Reunion
by Darkness Takes Over
Summary: Set after Freddy's Dead & FVJ. Slightly AU. Katherine's frame of mind was never going to be the same after defeating her father Freddy Krueger. With her emotions and thoughts in disarray she eventually goes back to her hometown of Springwood, hoping to deal with her own personal demons once and for all...(Reviews are more than welcomed!) Rated M - *chapter 8 - 24th June* COMPLETED!
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Nightmare on Elm St or any of the characters involved.

**Title: **Reunion

**Summary**: Set after Freddy's Dead (slight AU) and shortly after the events at the end of FVJ - Katherine's frame of mind was never the same after murdering her own father Freddy Krueger. With her emotions and thoughts in disarray she eventually goes back to Springwood, hoping to deal with her personal demons once and for all…

**Genre: **Angst/Horror

**Author's Note: **This idea for this one shot/possible short story came to me when I couldn't sleep one night. Every time I think of Maggie/Katherine smiling and laughing with Doc and Tracey at the end of Freddy's Dead I get slightly angry lol. I don't know why, but I think in a way she should have acted differently. So, this is what I think could have happened! It will start off at the very end of Freddy's Dead. Please let me know what you think and if I should continue it into a short story.

**Reunion**

**Chapter 1: **Freddy's Dead

"Kids!"

That was the last word Maggie heard from her murderous father as she turned to run out of the caged basement area. Doc grunted as he pulled the wired door from its hinges and Maggie staggered through the gap. There was a loud explosion from behind her as the pipe bomb exploded in Freddy's chest, a scream erupting from him as the Dream Demons soared out of his decimated body.

Maggie sagged against the wall, catching her breath. Her eyes darted across the small corridor towards Doc and Tracey, both of them smiling widely. "You did it Maggie!" Tracey declared and suddenly grabbed her therapist in a tight hug.

Slowly, Maggie raised her hands to grip the young girl's shoulders and returned the hug. Albeit not with much enthusiasm. Her whole body was in shock, she was exhausted. She should have held her friends sense of triumphant joy. But a part of her didn't. And she couldn't figure out why.

As Tracey took a step back she noticed Maggie's vacant expression, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing…" her therapist began, "I'm just overwhelmed. There's a lot to take in"

Doc nodded, "I know. But you'll be fine Maggie. C'mon let's go"

Maggie froze and turned back towards the area where she battled her father. "I need to see his remains…we have to get rid of the remains"

"Look, I can sort it out. You don't have to see what's left of him…" Doc insisted, "Just take Tracey up to her room"

"No!" Maggie snapped, "I have to do this! Please!"

Doc frowned and placed a warm hand on Maggie's shoulder, "Okay Maggie"

Taking a deep breath she slowly walked back towards the caged area of the basement. Smoke still lingered in the air as her dark brown eyes scoured the ground. Pieces of scarred body parts were scattered around the concrete pillar where Krueger's body was pinned against. The remains of Freddy's red and green sweater were littered about, while disturbingly the lower half of his two legs were strewn across the way from the pillar.

Swallowing the pile that had formed in her throat Maggie slowly stepped through the doorway and immediately her gaze fell upon the severed neck and head of her father, that lay face down on the concrete. Blood oozed from the flesh around the mangled neck. She gagged at the sight and half spun away.

"I told you, you don't have to do this…" Doc whispered, noticing her ashen face.

She took a deep breath and let it out slowly, "It's okay. I'll be okay…"

He nodded and silently began to walk further into the room, heading towards the wooden bench and reached underneath for a shovel. "Tracey, go to your room"

"I want to help" the young girl replied.

Maggie watched in stony silence as Tracey and Doc began to carefully tidy up her father's remains. The last day or so had been so surreal. Meeting the John Doe, going to Springwood and discovering what had happened to that town. The destruction and mayhem that was created by Freddy. Going to 1428 Elm Street and realising that it was it was the house she had been dreaming about the last several years. Least not forget the deaths of her patients, Carlos, Spencer and John.

Everything had happened for a reason, she knew that now. It was all a fucking plan he had laid out to lure her back to Springwood. To help her discover the truth of who she was.

Her true identity.

Katherine Krueger.

She sighed out loud and took another few tentative steps forward. Her right foot brushed against an object and she looked down. Her eyes widened in surprise at the bladed glove. The fabric was singed from the explosion, while one of the blades was bent inwards, the tips of each blade was slightly burnt.

Her eyes glimpsed up at Doc and Tracey as they continued to pick up the charred remains of Freddy, not particularly paying much attention to her. She licked her lips nervously and slowly knelt down to gather up her father's deadly talons in her hands. Holding it tightly to her chest she spun around and charged out of the basement area, heading to her office.

Once inside she closed the door behind her and lowered her pensive gaze towards the glove. She could remember the feel of the glove on her right hand. How warm it was, how it felt comforting. A part of her enjoyed wearing it. She felt such a rush of power when she wore it.

She gripped the glove in her left hand and gently tugged it onto her right hand. Her eyes furrowed slightly, the first blade was bent. Perhaps she could fix it…

Shaking her head quickly, she mentally berated herself. Just what the fuck was she thinking? Snarling softly she withdrew it from her hand and shoved it into one of the drawers of her desk. Slowly, she began to pace the room and ran her shaking hands through her messy hair and tugged out her hair band, wrapping it around her right wrist once.

Her frantic pace stopped as she stood at the window and stared gloomily out into the dark night. Her life was never going to be the same again. She knew that her memories of her childhood would come soaring back to her. Even this very moment she recalled a memory that chilled her to the bone.

It was when she was taken away from. The look on her father's face flashed before her. It held a look of desperation, of anger as she was taken from the house. His eyes had narrowed in disdain as he glared at the police officer taking her from the house. She remember him snarling at the police officer to keep his '_filthy hands' _off of her. She was screaming and crying. Her little hands tried to reach out for him as he was led away to a nearby police car. Her eyes pleaded with him to forgive her. The last words she had heard him shout to her was.

_I'll get you back Katherine. I **mean** it!_

She shook her head in disbelief and gave a wry smile. He was right. He got her back, albeit he hadn't lured her to his side as he probably had planned. She wasn't a murderer, she wasn't a sadist like he was!

But then again she had murdered someone? Hadn't she? She had _murdered_ her father.

Maggie leaned her wary head against the window pane and sniffled softly, a small tear trailing down her right cheek. Why the fuck was she crying? Was she feeling guilty? What the fuck was wrong with her? She shouldn't be feeling like this. There shouldn't be any feelings of remorse! He had murdered her patients, killed her mother in front of her when she was just five years old and had damn well tried to fucking kill her!

Gritting her teeth she pushed herself away from the window and walked over to her desk, slumping into the chair. She had to stop thinking these thoughts and try and move on with her life. He was gone.

He was dead.

Her father Fred Krueger was dead.

**x x x **

**Author's Note:** I know, it's a little short. I may continue it if people are interested! Please read and review!


	2. Confliction

**Author's note: **I have decided to develop this into a story - perhaps 6-8 chapter story. I have more or less the premise all sorted out. The ending well, I'm still working on it. But I have a good idea! :) Hope you enjoy!

PS - Don't worry I won't be neglecting I Won't Tell. I will start to write chapter 9 in the next day or so!

**Chapter 2: **Confliction

_**One week after the events at the end of Freddy's Dead.**_

Maggie Burroughs opened the door of her small apartment with a deep sigh, trudging her small black suitcase behind her. She closed the door with a small slam, before sitting on the her small cream sofa. She was so glad to get home. It was good to get away from Central City with her adoptive mother Sarah Burroughs. The time they spent together at her mother's lake house down at Apple Valley Lake was _worth_ it though.

Some good relaxation. She loved it down at the Apple Valley Lake. Maggie had many fond memories down there, when she was growing up as a teenager. The house was just at the edge of the lake, the views from the porch were amazing, so serene and breathtaking. Especially when the sun began to set. The water would shimmer in the sunshine. It was beautiful at times. Just what she needed after the events of the previous week.

She had contacted her boss Kelly, the next morning after the 'battle' saying she needed some time off. Maggie knew that he wouldn't say no, seeing as she was owed several days off over the last few months. Her mother had often admonished her, saying she was _'working herself into the ground' _and well she was right. She hadn't a break in about four months. She deserved to get away.

At the same time she wanted to distant herself from Doc and Tracey, especially after the night at the Shelter. They were so cheerful, so energized and pleased at what had happened. She knew Doc would ask her how she was coping and well she didn't know _how_ she felt. She knew that Tracey would praise her, commend her for saving the Shelter, for saving Central from going through the same destruction, the same _nightmare _that had occurred in Springwood.

For saving them from Freddy.

That was the last thing Maggie wanted to be reminded of. Her biological father. Freddy Krueger. No matter how hard she tried the last week down at the lake house to forget him, she couldn't shake the though of him out of her mind. He was constantly in her thoughts. And it was starting to _scare_ her.

To her surprise though, she didn't dream the whole week. Not even that recurring memory that plagued her since her early teenaged years. But still, the memory would surface in day dreams. It would happen about four to five times each day, for every day she was away. The reason for her dreamless nights was her sudden development of insomnia.

Whenever her mother would head off to bed, Maggie would leisurely sit on the porch with a glass of wine and stare vacantly over the lake. Consumed by her thoughts. Consumed by the battle in the shelter. She found herself actually _crying_ the odd night about his death. It was true she did love him _once, _a long time ago when she was a little girl. With those red ribbons in her hair. But did he_ really_ love her? Did he actually _care_ for her? Was he telling the truth when he said that he loved her mother too?

Perhaps he didn't love her mother as he told her. One night when she was outside on the porch, she vaguely remembered a heated argument that he and her mother had. She remembered sitting in her bedroom, hearing them screaming at each other from downstairs. There was a smash, then it went silent. The next morning she would see her mother's face, the corner of her lip was cut and the beginnings of a small bruise. She clearly remembered her mother saying that she had fell down the stairs. Her mother was actually covering for her father, _lying_ for him.

Or maybe she was trying to protect her. Protect her from the truth. But now Maggie knew the truth now and her love for him as a child had gone, anger replacing it. Anger for what he did to her mother, for how he killed her patients. For trying to kill her, Doc and Tracey. But was this anger strong enough to _make_ her hate him? Despise him?

Perhaps it was, she did kill him. However, she had no choice. He wasn't going to stop killing, he would have continued his murdering spree in the dream world if she hadn't of intervened. God knew how many teenagers he would have killed by now in the Shelter? Would he have actually persuaded her to _help_ him? That thought had crossed her mind a few times during the week and it troubled her greatly.

Pushing herself to her feet, Maggie discarded her long grey trench coat on the sofa and pulled her suitcase into her bedroom down the small hallway to her left. She would unpack her clothes later. First, she needed coffee and lots of it! Before entering the kitchen she stopped at the small answering machine beside her phone at the living room window. A small red light blinked on and off every five seconds. She sighed and pressed a small button, seeing that there were three messages left for her.

She pressed another button and listened intently as the messages began to play. Each of them were from Doc. Each message the same 'to _call him whenever she got back from her trip'._

Maggie rolled her eyes and pressed the delete button three times, in turn removing the messages from her machine. She knew he meant well, that he was a good friend. But she didn't need to talk to anyone about it. It was her own persona life, her own past and she would deal with it on her _own. _

An hour later Maggie had finished unpacking her belongings, stuck on a wash and was now sitting at her dining table nursing a small mug of coffee, dressed in her pink silk pyjamas and matching coloured nightgown. Before here was her adoption certificate. After much begging she had managed to persuade her mother to give it to her to keep. For some strange reason her mother had even offered to help her find her birth parents, as if to apologise for keeping this secret from her for all these years. Maggie however declined this gesture.

Two nights before they came home, they were eating dinner. Her adoptive had asked if there was any _contact_ from her birth parents. The words Maggie had mentioned that night after finding out her adoption certificate were clearly stuck in her mind. Maggie yet again dismissed this, saying that her head was all over the place and that she was just stressed out a little. The last question that Sarah had asked was how did she know she was adopted. To which Maggie replied - it was a gut instinct. A hunch. That was the last conversation they had about her adoption and Maggie hoped they wouldn't speak of it again.

Maggie ran her right hand over the top of the adoptive certificate, her fingers tracing the outline of the word Springwood slowly and read it quietly. The actual date of her adoption was faded out, but the year was 1967.

There was a sudden short rap at her door, making her yelp as she nearly knocked over her mug of coffee. She gave a nervous laugh and rose to her feet, walking briskly to her door. Easing it opened she stared at Doc, "Hi, Maggie" he smiled.

She smiled back. However, this was the last person she wanted to see this evening. Pulling the door fully opened she gestured him inside, "Hi, come in. What are you doing here?"

"Your mother rang me an hour ago" he closed the door behind him, then followed her into the kitchen, "She said she was a bit worried about you. She asked if I could call over and you know…talk to you"

Maggie sat facing him and poured him out some coffee, "I'm fine Doc. I just needed to get away for a few days. Clear my head a bit, you know?"

He took off his black leather jacket and placed it on the back of his chair, "I understand. How was your trip?"

She took a gulp of her coffee, hissing at the searing heat as it slid down her throat. "It was good, really relaxing. Quiet. If you want I can ask my mother to lend the lake house to you sometime. It's a very secluded area. Just what I needed, especially after…"

"What happened last week?" he finished for her.

She nodded once.

He glanced down briefly at the adoptive certificate and then back up to her, "Did your mother give this to you?"

"Yeah, I asked her for it. I want to keep it"

Doc nodded thoughtfully, "Maggie, do you want to talk about it? You haven't said a word since we removed the remains. I mean, you just stormed out of the basement without saying a word to either me or Tracey. We went to your office to check if you were okay and you weren't there. I rang you to your apartment you barely said two words!" he paused seeing the vacant stare she was giving him, "You haven't been in touch _all _week. You just took off and left Central city with your mother for a week. I only found that out from Kelly! You need to talk about it. You can't bottle it all up inside, like you did with your dream!"

Her blank expression faded away as she snapped out of her gaze and slowly she shook her head defiantly, "There's nothing wrong. I'm fine, honestly!"

He rolled his eyes, "Maggie, you can't lie to me. I know you better than that. What is troubling you? Don't shut me out!"

Maggie sighed loudly. Why the fuck did he have be so damn persistent? "Last week after it happened, after I blew my father…" her mouth froze as she saw the confused look on his face. She then narrowed her eyes in annoyance. "What?"

"You said your father. Do you not mean Freddy?"

"Freddy _was_ my father" she snapped back brusquely, "I knew that you wouldn't understand!"

Doc sprang to his feet at the same time as Maggie and grabbed her left arm, "Maggie, I'm sorry. But I find it strange you calling him that. He hasn't been your father since you were a little girl. Since you were living in Springwood. Your name is Maggie Burroughs. You're _not _a Krueger anymore"

Maggie shrugged his hand of her hand and glowered at him, "That is my name now. But I was _born_ Katherine Krueger. Freddy is my birth father. He may not have raised me, but I'm going to start to remember the times with him when I was a little girl. They're all in" she pointed at her temple, "here. They're all going to come back and haunt me!"

Doc sighed watching as his friend and co-worker began to wipe at her weary eyes, wiping the odd stray tear from her face. "Maggie…"

She cut him off sharply, "You should have heard him when I was down in the basement that night. He said that he _loved _me" her breath caught in her throat as she let out a small sob, "I'm so confused. I don't know if he was being genuine with me. If he really meant it!"

"Maggie, he was tricking you" Doc reasoned with her, "Don't you see? He wanted you to believe him so you would let down your guard. So, that you would willingly come to him. He was going to kill you!"

Maggie shook her head in discord, although a little hesitantly, "N-no…I don't believe that's true…"

Again he reached out to her, gently clasping a hand on her shoulder. He frowned, feeling her body tremble under his hand. "Maggie, I really think you need to see me tomorrow morning when you come into the Shelter"

She blinked and groaned softly. Doc led her to the chair, "What is it Maggie?"

Her vision went blurry as an image flashed before her, playing out in a matter of seconds. An image she knew so well, her memory of the water tower, the garden, her mother being strangled by her father. A single tear rolled down her flushed face, she then looked up to Doc, "I keep thinking about my memory"

"Memory?"

"My recurring dream. It was a memory. It just comes and goes…I thought it would only happen when I'm sleeping. But I haven't slept in a week. I've been having day dreams. I keep seeing my memory in my day dreams"

He crouched before her and stared sternly at her, "Listen, if you want I could help you with that memory. I can repress it with my dream therapy. I'll even help you repress any other memories that may start to come back to you…"

Maggie quickly shook her head, "No! It's part of my past! I want to remember it!"

"But I heard him say to you that he murdered your mother" he gulped, "Is that what happened in the rest of the dream? In your memory?"

She let out a deep breath, "I forgot to tell you. Yes, he killed my mother. Strangled her in front of me. I was just five years old! She had found out about his…_'special work'_"

Doc rose an eyebrow in puzzlement, "Special work?"

"He was killing the children. That's what he called it. His special work" she lowered her gaze and stared at her shaking hands, lost in her thoughts. She actually didn't know much about her father, what exactly happened to him after she was taken away. Oh, she saw him being burnt alive in the power plant. But deep down inside there was a part of her that wanted to know more about him.

Doc squeezed her shoulders lightly and rose to his feet, "Look, meet up with me first thing in the morning. I'll be in the Shelter at 7am" he gathered his coat and pulled it on, "We need to talk more about this. You need to come to terms to what he did to your mother. You can tell me everything"

Lifting her head towards him, Maggie smiled in appreciation. "I know you mean well Doc and I am grateful. But I don't want to talk about it. I just want to deal with this in my own way. Okay?"

He began to reply, but she interjected.

"No! Just trust me on this, okay?"

He gave a quiet nod.

"Thanks" she muttered.

She walked with him towards the apartment door and smiled at him as he turned to her, staring solemnly at her. He hated how stubborn she was, how defensive and abrasive she could be. If only she could let her guard down, let herself be more open. If only she would connect with her emotions more, then she wouldn't have to feel this way. So torn and confused. Conflicted. If she didn't get in touch with her feelings, then they would consume her, eat her up. Tear her apart. "Get some sleep. I'll see you tomorrow morning"

Maggie smiled weakly, "I will. Night"

After he left Maggie quickly slid the latch across, locking the door. She clamped her eyes shut and gently slammed her closed fist against the door. "Fuck! Get yourself together girl!"

Maggie spun on her heel back into the kitchen and lifted the two mugs, downing her own mug first and then the rest of Doc's beverage. She set them in the kitchen sink and then wandered across the hallway to her own room, picking up her adoptive certificate on the way. Once inside she left her certificate on her bed and then turned her sombre gaze towards her built-in wardrobe. As if in a trance she walked towards the two cream doors and slid them open.

Tucked in the far corner of the wardrobe was a small red box. Kneeling down she grabbed it firmly with her two shaky hands she placed it on the side dresser and sat on the chair. Gingerly, she let her right hand dance along the top of the lid. Her index finger tapping it a few times. Then with a small sigh she popped open the lid and peered over the rim of the box.

Inside was Freddy's glove. Her father's glove.

She had hid it when she arrived home from the Shelter the week before. It was in the exact same condition as it was the week before. Her eyes glided over the four blades. She hadn't notice it before, but she could actually see the blood. Her father's blood staining the long metal knives...

Maggie shrieked and clasped her eyes shut as she remembered driving the glove into her father's gut, his screams echoing on her ears. Her hands flew up to the side of her head and her fingers dug into her scalp. A small growl came from her, "Stop thinking about it! _Stop it_"

Slowly, the memory faded away, along with her father's screams. Much to her relief. She took a few long deep breaths and allowed her hands to drop from the side of her temple. Her right hand then reached into the box, grasping the glove carefully and then placed then box on the floor with her left hand.

Maggie gently placed the glove on the dresser and carefully began to inspect it, running her fingers along the metal plating at the back of the glove. It was so smooth, albeit a little rusty. Her index finger then trailed over the back of the blades, up to the very tip and then she gradually lifted it with her left hand. As if her hand had a mind of it's own, her left hand pulled it down onto her right hand. Just like the first two times, it fitted on her _perfectly_.

She slowly let her finger blades wriggle one by one, the metal clicking softly. Prudently she leaned her face towards the tips, keeping a safe enough distance as eh continued to allow her fingers to flick, starting up a steady rhythm.

There was no doubt, she was fascinated by it.

It _captivated_ her.

Her brown eyes turned towards the oval mirror facing her and as she stared at her reflection, she began to see _'his' _face staring back at her, as he smiled at her with a wicked grin. He was in the exact same pose as her, clicking the finger blades, one by one.

Maggie gasped and closed her eyes, letting the bladed claw fall onto her lap and with a deep breath she pried opened her eyes and looked towards the mirror. It was _her_ reflection staring back. Not her father's.

She gave a nervous laugh. Maybe she was going crazy. Imaging things, seeing visions. Or then again maybe she needed a good night's sleep. What did Doc say? The lack of sleep makes the mind play tricks on you, make you have hallucinations. Yeah, that was it. That was the most _rational_ reason.

Stifling a yawn, Maggie looked down at the glove once more. Again her thoughts taking over. It was disturbing how _this _glove could cause so much destruction, so much pain and death? Just how many children and teenagers actually fell by this blades? Her eyes flickered shut as she thought back to the High school in Springwood, to the class room her and the John Doe had entered. There were numerous pieces of paper pinned to the wall, hundreds, perhaps thousands of children and teenagers names written on them. Above them were about twenty to thirty plates with other children's names. All of them were dead. All of them were murdered by her father. Their blood was spilled onto this bladed claw that she was wearing. Sneering in fury, she let out an anguish sob. As she grieved for them, for his _victims_. With a snarl she withdrew the glove from her hand and threw it at the dresser. The glove connected with the mirror, shattering it into several large fragments.

Maggie groaned and stood from her seat, "Ah, for fuck's sake! That's all I need, seven years bad luck!"

Reaching down she picked up each shard of mirror, then stopped as she stared at a piece. Her reflection making her swallow in dread. She could see part of him in her, the shape of their nose was very familiar. They both held that intense, penetrating look that could look into your very soul. Even part of her jaw line was the same. The rest of her features were from her mother, her brown hair, cheek bones, brown eyes. But still, she knew from her reflection that she was _his _child.

Shaking her head she gathered the glove and placed it back in the box, sealing it closed with the lid. There had to be a way to stop these thoughts and deliberations. Maybe she should consider Doc's offer to help repress her memories. But what if they _couldn't_ be repressed? Maybe in the long run it would be beneficial for her to have these memories. Maybe it would help her get some closure in her life.

She had nearly forgot the other memory that came to her through her day dreams, again it was one that was recurring more and more over the last week. Again it was the night she was taken away. For some distressing reason, it pained her to see her father's face as she was taken away. The desperation, the anger and sadness he evoked as he struggled against the police men. For the first time, she felt her own emotions as a child. How sorry she was for telling on him, that all she wanted was his _forgiveness_, to tell her that he forgave her. She was so frantic to get away from them, to try and reach her father that she had tried to _bite _one of the policemen.

Maggie smirked musingly at this. Maybe she did really _love_ him when she was a little girl. But now, well that was a different story…

…._or_ was it?

**FK-KK-FK-KK**

**Please review!**


	3. Haunted

_**Author's Note: **_From the timeline and the start of Freddy's Dead - this would be set in late 1999 - as it was supposedly set 10 years after the end of Dream Child. So, Maggie/Katherine would be 37 (this is based on the timeline I normally use - where she was born in 1962. This may be wrong, but I'm going to use it anyhow! Lol)

Also, as an avid fan of Freddy's Dead I have noticed a few things in the battle scene at the end that I wanted to bring into this chapter!

**Chapter 3: **Haunted

The Shelter was never particularly busy at 8am. Most of the teenagers were still sleeping soundly in their rooms. It was about this time when the staff had arrived, ready to start their long day. There were a few counsellors who would have remained overnight to help out. Either keeping an eye on the teenagers during night time or either catching up on any outstanding paper work. There were rumours flying about that the budget for the Shelter was going to be cut significantly in 2000. On the other side of the City a new Youth Counselling Centre was being built.

The Mayor had stated that it would replace the Shelter on the Southside of the City, saying it had run it's course and would be dismantled whenever the new one was finally completed. It had caused outrage amongst the staff, most of them declaring that the Mayor was being discriminating against this side of the City, that many of the teenager's welfare both physically and mentally would be under threat. That the Shelter was serving this Community in this part of the city, that it was impetrative that the Shelter stayed opened. The teenagers lives depended on it.

Maggie strode into the main foyer of the building and gave a warm smile at the security guard, "Morning Harry, how are you?"

"I'm good thanks Dr Burroughs. You enjoy your time off?"

"Yes, I did" she nodded, her grip tightening on her briefcase and she turned right past several offices to her left and right. Most of them were empty, their occupants having not reached the Shelter yet.

She continued onwards and turned left and was soon at her own small office. On the glass of her door were the words _**'Dr M. Burroughs'. **_Twisting the handle she pushed opened the door and stepped inside, closing the door behind her. She then took off her coat and hooked it on the coat stand at the side of the door. Before she could even open her briefcase to take out her case papers there was a small knock at her door.

"Come in!" she called.

The door creaked opened, revealing Doc. In his hands were two mugs of coffee. "Morning. Thought I would bring you some coffee"

Maggie broke out into a small smile, "Morning. Thanks. I might be needing this today. Got a lot of work to catch up on!"

"I'm sure" Doc replied, "So, did you get some sleep last night?"

"Yes" Maggie lied, "I feel far better than I did yesterday"

"That's good" he handed over the coffee to her, watching silently as she took a quick drink. "My offer it still open. If you want to talk"

Maggie groaned inwardly. He wouldn't let go! "I don't really see the need Doc" her head motioned towards the chair, offering him a seat. "It's over. He's gone. He isn't coming back. As for my memory, it will pass. I know it! I'll come to terms with it!"

He stared at her, could she be lying? Was this all a façade she was putting on? "Maggie…"

"Listen" she raised her right hand and slid into her seat facing him, "If I need any help, I will ask. I just want to try and get my life back on track! Back to my work" her gaze fell to the stack of papers to her right. "Maybe getting back into my work, helping the kids will help me move on. I want to forget about him, about Freddy" her voice quavered slightly as she muttered his name. But it went unnoticed by Doc. "I want to focus on the here and now. Not what had happened the other week"

Doc looked at her in surprise. This was certainly a sudden change from last night. Again was she being genuine, honest with herself and with him? Was she saying this to get him to stop pestering her? Maybe he would have to keep an eye on her, to make sure she was really coping well. "Okay, Maggie. If you are really sure"

"I am" Maggie nodded determinedly, "So, how is Tracey? Has she been okay? Are her burns healing up well?"

"I brought her to the hospital during the week. She got a small skin graft for her wrists. But she's fine. She keeps asking about you"

"I'll go and see her my first therapy session this morning. Let her know I'll see her about 10.30 or so" Maggie smiled.

"No problem, I'll let her know" Doc nodded then rose from his seat, "I'll see you later on, perhaps we could get some lunch?"

"Yeah" Maggie agreed, then asked a question that had been bothering her over the last few days. "Doc, what happened? I mean, to the remains?"

Doc held her pensive gaze. He had wondered when she was going to ask about this. "We burnt them"

"Burnt?" her voice was shaky, "Where?"

"I don't think…" he began.

"Doc! Please tell me!" Maggie pleaded.

"Okay" Doc sighed in defeat and took a small step towards the desk, "You know the old Jameson Junkyard? Well, there was an incinerator…"

Maggie gulped, her face going a deathly shade of pale.

"Maggie" Doc looked at her in concern, "Are you okay?"

She forced a smile, "Yes. I just haven't eaten this morning. So, you burnt his remains in the incinerator?"

Doc nodded slowly, "Yes. I know someone who works there. An old friend. He didn't know they were body remains that were being burnt. I had them concealed in a black bin bag. No one knew"

She shivered involuntary at this. A part of her felt as though that his remains deserved a proper burial. Not just thrown into some raging fire, to be deposed of in such an inhumanely way. Taking a deep breath she nodded, "Okay. Thanks for letting me know. I'll see you later for lunch!"

"Yes, of course. I'll make sure there is coffee ready!"

She watched as he left the room, slightly relieved that he was gone. Gradually she lowered her trembling face down to her hand bag on the ground and bent down to reach inside, rummaging through it until she grabbed a small white bottle of Valium and a plastic water bottle. Popping open the small white bottle she shook out two small white tablets and slid them into her mouth, washing them down with a mouthful of water. Her hands shook violently as she closed the lids, trying to calm her erratic breathing.

She hated feeling like this, the constant bouts of anxiety whenever she thought about _him_. Closing her eyes slowly she lifted her right hand towards her cream shirt, placing it on over her heart and after a few long deep breaths she managed to pacify her irregular breathing. "Calm down. It had to be done. They had to remove his remains. You know it"

Nodding quietly to herself she pried opened her eyes and pulled out her top drawer, lifting out her small black work diary. She flipped through the pages until she came across today's date.

_**Monday 27**__**th**__** September 1999. **_

A disgruntled sigh came from as she read her schedule for the day. There were six sessions she had today, each of them varied between 45minutes to an hour each and she had a meeting with one of the kid's parents at the end of the day. It was going to be a long day. But first things were first, she needed food!

It didn't take her long to reach the staff canteen at the other end of the building. She had to pass through the teenager's sleeping quarters and had given a quick wave to Tracey as she left her room, ready for her session with Doc. She smiled at one of the canteen staff as she wandered over to a small table that had several trays of fruit and fresh breads such pancakes, croissants, sandwiches. After lifting an apple and banana she turned to leave the canteen when she bumped into her boss. Kelly Summers.

"Morning, Kelly" she smiled warmly at him.

"Welcome back Maggie, how are you?"

"I'm great thanks!" Maggie replied.

"That's good, you look far better than last week. I'm glad you took my advice to take a few days off" he nodded and smiled brightly at her, "Though I'm still not sure what you were talking about. You were rambling a bit last week"

"Rambling?" Maggie gave him a confused look.

"Yes, you said something about some kids who we had here. But there were no records of them" Kelly retorted.

"Oh, I was just stressed out" Maggie lied. Doc was completely right, her father did _erase_ John, Carlos and Spencer from existence. She took a deep breath, trying to keep herself composed and calm. She would keep their memory alive, she wouldn't forget them. Never. Her eyes shifted down towards the small box in his hands, "Just forget about it. So, I take it you found something in the kid's rooms?"

"Yeah" Kelly sighed and held the box out to her, "Would you be able to leave these down in the weapons locker? Just until the police comes? I've a meeting with one of the kid's parents now"

"No problem. Though do you really think the police will _ever_ come and collect them? We've been collecting weapons from the kids for the last year and there still hasn't been any sign of the police collecting them!" Maggie pointed out and took the box off of him.

"Well, we can only hope, can't we?"

Maggie chuckled lightly and looked at the three pocket knives and long thin shaving blade in the box, "So, who had these?"

"Jack" Kelly replied grimly.

Maggie rolled her eyes in dismay. She knew it would have been him, "I'll have a word with him when I see him in the afternoon"

"Thanks Maggie. Glad to have you back!"

She nodded and went on her way. After quickly eating her fruit, she collected the keys to the weapon locker from the security desk and then with great prudence made her way down to the basement. At the bottom step she felt a shiver go up her spine. It was her first time down here since the 'battle'. Everything was eerily calm. Too quiet for her likening.

She stopped at the weapons locker and unlocked it quickly, placing the knives and blade onto the shelf. Her brown eyes then scoured the other weapons, the ninja stars, long thick knives…etc. They weren't the exact ones she had used to maim her father, but still she remembered vividly throwing each one at him. Pinning him against the pillar. The look on his face was of disgust, of rage at how she _defying_ him. Turning on him _yet_ again.

Maggie felt a stray tear roll down her face and with a vicious snarl she slammed the locker door shut and shoved the keys into her front left hand trouser pocket. "Fucking stop it! Stop thinking about it!"

Wiping at her face drearily she turned to go back upstairs when her legs froze, her body turning back towards the caged area of the basement of its own accord. There was a sudden compulsion to go inside. Leisurely she inched forward and peered through the doorway. The burnt scorch marks were still on the concrete pillar, the wooden crate to its left was also burnt along the edges. The remains of her father were now cleaned up from the ground. Everything looked normal.

Taking a small deep breath she moved through the doorway and stood in the middle of the room and scrutinized the area slowly as she did a 360 degree turn. Her vigilant gaze soon fell upon something stuck between the pillar and another wooden crate to the left.

She quickly approached the pillar and crouched down to squeeze her right hand between the gap, her fingers curling around the item. Her mouth slowly parted in horror as she held her father's brown fedora hat. Her fingers tightened on the hat as she rose to her feet. How the fuck did that get here? Swallowing thickly she peered inside the hat, seeing his name in black pen.

**Fred Krueger.**

Her body broke out into a cold sweat as she stared at the hat. Something very fucking strange was happening, first she found the bladed glove and now her father's hat. Maggie frowned as a little voice in the back of her head whispered. The voice low and gritty, all too _familiar_ to her.

'_Look under the bench…'_

Maggie bit her bottom lip and twisted around to the back of the room, where the bench was and as if hypnotized made her way towards it. Her gaze falling towards the small scrap of paper underneath. She knelt down and snatched it swiftly with her free hand, smoothing it out on her right knee. It was a news paper article, the front page of the Springwood Gazette. The date could barely be made out, but the year was 1966. The headline stood out in big black letters, startling her.

_**Springwood Slasher Strikes Again!**_

Her hands shook and she sprung to her feet, "What the hell?"

Maggie knew she had pulled her father out of the dream, but where did this come from? As for her father's hat, she knew she had knocked it off his head when she was in the dream. But she vaguely remembered that it was upon his head when he was crawling on the ceiling to lock her in the caged area. Had his powers transferred over from the dream world into the waking world?

They must have, as it was the only explanation as to why his hat was here. Also, when he had first showed himself to her his face was smooth, unblemished, just the way she remembered him. But then he had changed it back to it's true form, the ghastly burns from when he had died.

Licking her lips nervously she glanced about the basement, as though she felt that she was being watched. Her fingers trembled as she folded the paper on the bench and shoved it into her trouser pocket. She would read it later when she got home from work.

In a matter of minutes she had arrived back at her office, placing the hat and the newspaper in her drawer. Just as though she thought things couldn't get any creepier after finding her father's glove, she had now found his hat and that newspaper article from her home town. She should destroy each item, but did she really want to keep them? Was she trying to keep her father's memory alive or was he actually _haunting_ her?

**X x x**

A week had passed since Maggie had discovered her father's fedora hat and the small newspaper article of the Springwood Gazette. She stowed them away in the same box where the bladed glove was kept. For a few nights she had read the newspaper article, becoming engrossed and yet repulsed by what her father had done to that young girl. She was just four years old. Her body was found in an alleyway, her corpse was horribly burnt and there were four deep stab wounds in her abdomen. There were also suggestions of a sexual attack on the young girl, that caused Maggie to be physically sick. She found herself consumed by grief, crying her heart out for the young girl. This wasn't the father she remembered as a child, this was the dark and corrupt side of him. Her father was a monster. It was the part of him that she despised, that she _never_ wished had existed.

What had caused him to be like this? What turned him into this monster, this predator? She had seen his memories when she invaded his mind, the bullying he received from the other children as a young child. The vicious and brutal physical abuse that was bestowed to him as a teenager. But she knew deep down inside there was more to it than that. She wanted to find out more about him. It scared her to think that maybe she wanted to find out more about his killings when he was in the dream world, causing people's darkest fears to come alive and conquer them. Kill them.

To her it was part of her.

Her _family_ history.

The door to her apartment was flung opened as Maggie staggered in, her right hand gripping her briefcase that was full with case papers to be worked on. It was Friday, just past 6pm and she was exhausted to say the least. It had been a long week, neither mind a long fucking day. She had been in the Shelter at 6.30am to deal with her patient's Cassey's violent attack on another girl. It that wasn't bad enough, three more kids were brought in. All of them were involved in drugs and were pretty badly shaken up. She was never so pleased to see 5pm come along, all she wanted was a nice glass of rose wine to unwind and relax.

Thankfully, Doc hadn't asked her any more about her memories or anything to do with her father. Perhaps he was finally accepting that she wasn't going to talk about it to him.

Maggie wandered over to her small work desk at the living room window and placed her briefcase and bag on top. She would work on it tomorrow. Heading back into the kitchen she pulled opened the microwave where there was a plate of left over pasta from the previous night. Pushing the door closed she pushed in the plug and pressed two minutes on the timer, then pressed start. Her hands tugged off her coat and placed it over the kitchen chair, then she opened the fridge and took out a small bottle fo rose wine. Her favourite - White Zinfandel. She quickly poured herself a large glass of wine and took a long gulp, sagging weakly against the counter. Her body was drained. Al she wanted was _sleep_, but for the last week she had suffered from bouts of insomnia.

Ding!

Maggie jumped slightly as the microwave chimed from her right. She placed her glass of wine on the kitchen table, then grabbed her knife and fork from the cutlery drawer.

She sat quietly at the table, munching eagerly at her food and sipping her wine in between. After a few minutes her mind began to wander as she idily began to hum an old children's song, specifically an old jump rope song. But it had now been twisted into a song that warned children, teenagers when they were asleep. Soon her humming began to cease and hauntingly she began to sing.

"One, two Freddy's coming for you…"

Maggie dropped her fork in terror as these words fluttered out of her mouth and slammed her right hand over her trembling lips. What the fuck? Why was she singing that song and how did she know the actual tune? She had seen the rhymes back in Springwood, but she never actually heard it being sung. How could she have known?

A small whimper left her throat and she withdrew her hand from her mouth. She noticed a small drop of blood on her finger, then reached up to touch underneath her nose, feeling liquid dribbling down her left nostril. It was blood. She pushed herself from her seat and rushed to the kitchen counter to grab a small piece of kitchen roll, then held it to her nose to cease the blood from flowing.

She really didn't like what was happening to her. Not one fucking bit!

Maggie sighed and swallowed hard, no longer in the mood to eat. Grabbing her plate of pasta she scrapped it into the small bin, then placed her fork and knife in the sink. Her hands shook as she took her wine bottle and wine glass, switching the kitchen light off as she went into her bedroom.

When she arrived in her bedroom she left her wine on her new dressing table to the right of her bed. There was no mirror attached to the new dresser, as she had bought a new five foot tall mirror that was tucked into the far left hand corner of the room beside the window. She kicked off her black shoes and slumped onto her bed, then took another sip of her wine. Perhaps she should take it easy on the wine as she was starting to feel a little light headed. Screwing the bottle top back on the wine she pushed it away. That was it for tonight.

Leaning against the headboard she gave a slightly inebriated sigh and then her head lulled to the left, her brown eyes being set upon the wardrobe yet again. Slowly, she swung her legs over the bed and staggered forward towards the wardrobe to reach down for the box and knelt before it. She pried open the lid and gazed at the items inside. Her father's fedora hat and glove. Her right hand reached inside, her fingers brushing the fabric of the hat lightly and then she trailed her right index finger along a single blade. Why was she still keeping them?

Suddenly, for the first time since last week she heard _that_ gravely voice.

_Perhaps you should take them __**back**__…_

Maggie scowled at the voice and shook her head in discord. "No. I'm not going back there!"

She quickly closed the box and closed the doors of the wardrobe as she stood. Fuck this, she was going go get some shut eye. It didn't matter to her if it was only 6.40pm, she needed some sleep. Even if it was for a few hours. Quickly, she started to discard her clothes, first her navy blouse and then black trousers, discarding them in the small linen basket. She lifted her pink silk pyjamas and pulled them on.

Her gaze then fell upon her small bottle of valium tablets on her small chest of drawers. It surprised her that she wasn't addicted to them by now. Perhaps she was. But it was the only way she could pacify her anxiety. Grimly she climbed onto her bed, grabbing the bottle and then pulled opened the top drawer rummaging through the contents until she got what she was looking for. Sleeping tablets. She knew it was dangerous to mix both tablets, but she wanted to get some sleep. Otherwise she was going to start hallucinating, just like she did last week. When she saw him staring back at her in the mirror.

Perhaps if she forced herself to sleep it would hopefully help her get into a better routine with her sleeping patterns. Also, she should perhaps cut down on the long hour shifts she was putting in for the last week or so. Last weekend she had worked two night straight, helping out Doc and a few of the other counsellors with their paper work. But then again it was a much needed distraction at the time.

Unscrewing both bottle caps she shook out one tablet each and slid them into her mouth, dry swallowing them both and with a grim sigh she walked towards the light switch, turning it off. The room was soon shrouded in darkness. Maggie shakily crept towards her bed, a feeling of nausea overwhelming her as she climbed under the bed covers and allowed her eyes to flutter shut.

It was past 1am. A raging thunder storm rumbled outside. Flashes of bright yellow lightening crackled across the blackened sky. Maggie turned in her bed, grasping at her spare pillow and then suddenly her eyes snapped opened as a loud clap of thunder exploded outside. Her breathing started to become erratic as she sat up in bed, her hands running through her brown locks shakily.

She gave an frustrated sigh and looked over at the small alarm clock on her dresser, noticing the time. "Just great" she grumbled.

Her eyes then narrowed in confusion as they landed on the wardrobe. Both the doors were wide opened. Frantically she reached over to switch on the small lamp and gasped in panic as she saw the small box having been toppled over. The contents inside were now missing.

Adrenaline pumped through her body as she sprang to her feet, throwing the bed covers off her quickly. Her head jerked towards her bedroom door as she heard a small click as though the door was being opened. Her breath caught in her throat as the door creaked opened. She half expected to see him in the doorway, but to her relief he wasn't. However, that didn't ease her worries. Just where the fuck was her father's glove and hat?

Prudently Maggie marched forward out of her bedroom, knowing all too well she was dreaming. She couldn't explain how, but she somehow knew. She _felt_ it. Her pace slowed down as she approached the entrance to the kitchen, as if something was luring her there. Her feet froze as she stood in the doorway, hearing a small scratching sound. Her eyes peered into the darkened room and she then lifted her right hand to switch on the light. But before she could touch the light switch, the bulb flickered on of its own accord just at the same time another flash of lightening erupted from outside.

For a mere second a silhouette of a man appeared behind her and then in a blink of an eye was gone.

Maggie tensed suddenly and craned her neck over her shoulder as if sensing someones presence, then wisely shook it off. She had to keep her wits about her. Not let her _mind_, let this fucking dream play tricks on her.

When she turned her attention back to the kitchen she finally saw it. Her father's fedora hat, sitting in the middle of her kitchen table. The source of the scratching sound was coming from it, well actually _underneath_ it.

Maggie took a deep breath and lurched forward to snatch the hat from the table, her eyes widening in terror at her father's glove staring up at her. She swallowed hard in dread. The blades were actually _moving_, the tips of the steel digging in lightly against the surface of the wood. As her fear overpowered her she took a small step backwards, but then she grew still. The blades of the claw had ceased its movements and then slowly twisted around. The index blade then began to curl back and forward, as if it was _beckoning_ her forward.

Maggie shivered and as if she was entranced by the glove, she gradually began to step forward. The power of the glove was too much to ignore.

From directly behind Maggie, a shadow shifted in the darkened living room and deftly moved towards her.

Maggie's pensive gaze was still set upon the glove as it continued to summon her towards it. Then suddenly it turned again, spraying its blades wide threateningly and then grew still.

A dark, malevolent whisper chuckle erupted from all around and soon a coarse voice leered from the darkness behind her.

"_Princess..."_

Maggie whimpered and her body tight with fear. It just couldn't be true. He couldn't be in her dreams, it was impossible!

Slowly, she started to twist around towards the living room until she saw the bladed claw begin to twitch and then it sprang to life, lunging towards her…

Maggie screamed as she shot up in bed, gripping the sheets tautly and frantically checked her night clothes. Nothing was ripped, there was no wounds. Nothing. Just a dream, a stupid fucking dream! She looked at her alarm clock. It was 3.14am. She sighed and threw her bed clothes off of her and went over to the wardrobe and flung opened the doors. The box was _untouched_, exactly where she put it.

She laughed crazily to herself. She was losing her mind, slowly but surely she was. Knowing that she couldn't possibly go back to sleep she walked out of her bedroom and made her way towards her kitchen. She flipped on the light and was about to pass the kitchen table when something caught her eye. Her body shivered, her face going a deathly shade of white as there in the middle of the kitchen table were four long_ scratches_…


	4. His Memory

**Chapter 4**: His Memory

Why?

That was the question that was continually spiralling around her mind. Why? Why was she doing this? What was the reasoning behind this and what the fuck was it going to accomplish?

Maggie had these questions floating around her mind for the last thirty minutes, but alas no answers. The only thing she knew was that she was going back there.

Back to Springwood.

Perhaps it was a stupid idea. She gave a small bitter laugh as she turned her mother's car off the small highway into a small narrow road just on the south side of Central City.

It wasn't a stupid.

It was a fucking crazy idea!

But she needed to do something. That dream last night had certainly freaked her out. Just how the fuck could that happen? There were four small scratches on her kitchen table. Was he _really_ alive? She had _heard_ his voice, she _felt_ his presence in the dream. It had to be him. But why wasn't he showing himself to her in full?

Even this very moment she could clearly hear his gritty, mocking voice hissing the nickname he had for her.

_Princess._

She shook her head and gripped the steering wheel more firmly and glanced at the car clock. The time reading just after 9.30am. She frowned and shook her head. He _wasn't _alive, he couldn't be. Those _things_, those fucking demons had flown from his body after she blew him up with that pipe-bomb. She had seen it with her own eyes.

The only rational explanation to her dream was that she was remembering him too much, that all these memories of him that she had been experiencing over the last week or two was playing on her mind too much. That it somehow manifested his presence in her dream. It wasn't really him. Just a memory.

She nodded silently to herself, forcing herself to believe this.

Her weary eyes looked up as the she neared the boundary of the town. Slowly, she eased her foot of the gas and her mother's dark navy 1997 Chrysler Cirrus slowed to a stop about five feet away from the boundary.

The town's sign loomed above the car to the right.

_**Welcome to Springwood.**_

_**A Nice Place to Live. **_

She frowned then let out an involuntary shiver as her eyes fell upon the very spot where the John Doe had died in his arms. The image of his body forming into that silver mist flashed before her eyes. She never really knew who he was, what his real name was. It was sad how his parents probably didn't even know their son was dead, murdered.

Maggie sighed and put the car in drive, pushing onwards across the boundary into the Springwood. Her eyes glanced wearily to her let, eying her black back pack that held her father's glove and hat. She felt a compulsion to bring them back to Springwood. After her nightmare she had thought long and hard about what to do. There was no way she could tell Doc about her dream. God only knew how he would react. It was just before 6am this morning that she had reached a decision and that was to bring them back to her old home at 1428 Elm Street. It had been abandoned for decades. No one in their right mind would buy it.

She had pleaded with her mother to allow her to borrow her car for a few hours, saying she needed to do an important message. Her mother was persistent that she would accompany her, but Maggie had somehow persuaded her to stay at home. That she would treat her to a nice meal later on evening to say thanks.

However, now she had this gut wrenching feeling that she didn't know if she would be coming home at all. Maggie fiercely shook her head. "Stop thinking like that! You'll only be here for a few hours. Just a few hours"

Her grip on the steering wheel went taut as she drove past the area where the Town Fair was. It was now gone, in it's place were several removal vans. Workmen meandered about the area conversing with each other. She glimpsed briefly about the area, noticing a few of the houses nearby were being worked on. What the hell was happening? She turned the car right and drove along the Town Hall and slowed the car down as it passed the large black statue of a boy, with the words carved on a small plaque at the bottom.

**The Children Shall Endure. **

She scoffed in disbelief and then drove onwards, knowing exactly where she was she was heading to. As if she knew these streets like the back of her hand. It seemed that the houses along the streets were being revamped, again she seen various removal vans and some families starting to move into the houses. Was this town finally freed form the mass psychosis that gripped it just a few weeks before?

The car turned into Sycamore Drive, just one block over from her home on Elm street. Again the street was busy with activity. Maybe there was no need to be here, she should just turn the car around and go back to Central City. She could destroy her father's belongings there…

A small hiss came from Maggie as she felt the beginnings of a strong headache. She groaned and quickly stopped the car, parking at the sidewalk. Gingerly she reached up to rub the side of her temples and leaned her head back, allowing her eyes to flutter shut and began to take slow deep breaths. After a minute she eased her hands down to her side and let out a long deep breath as her headache began to ease off.

Her body slowly became tense as she felt a presence from her right and she jerked her head towards the driver's seat and her eyes snapped open. Beside her was herself. Herself as a five year old girl.

Little Katherine.

Her attire was the exact same as her own. Dark jeans, white trainers, grey hoodie. But her hair was tied back in none other than two red ribbons. On her lap was Maggie's back pack, the zip of the bag was pulled opened.

Maggie gulped as her younger self turned to face her, her big brown eyes locking with hers. Holding her in a trance as she chirped, "Hi!"

Clearing her throat, Maggie replied slowly, "Um, hi"

Leaning forward the young girl whispered quietly, "You've brought _him _home"

Her breath caught in her throat, before she finally managed to croak out, "W-what?"

Little Katherine stared pensively at her and then leisurely turned her face to the left, staring with a big grin into the back of the car, "Hi, daddy!"

Trembling Maggie lifted her petrified gaze to the rear-view mirror, her eyes going wide in terror at the pair of cold blue eyes glaring back at her. There was a cruel snicker that was followed by a vicious growl, "Hello, princess!"

In a flash his clawed glove clamped down on her right shoulder and squeezed hard, making her scream as she jumped forward. Her eyes snapped opened as she woke from her slumber and she wildly swung around in her seat. Expecting to see him in the back seat.

But she was alone.

Alone and terrified.

Her breath came out in short sharp bursts as she began to suffer a panic attack. Cringing she leaned forward and placed the top of her head on the edge of the steering wheel, trying to focus on her breathing. Nice and short breaths. Nice and easy.

She whimpered and twisted around towards the back pack, her lips quivering as she saw the zip was pulled across half way. Moving forward slightly she glanced into the bag and saw that his belongings were still there, untouched.

Little Katherine's words whispered in her mind. Did she really bring him back? But he was dead. Fucking dead! The dream demons no longer possessed his body. Running her shaky hands through her hair she then realised it was all her fault. She was _remembering_ him, the few memories she had of him when she was a little girl. Remembering that memory in the back garden over and over, keeping that glove and his hat.

She was keeping his memory, his spirit alive in her mind, in her _dreams_. She should have known it was his fucking voice speaking to her the other week in the shelter when she was down in the basement and even last night in her apartment. He was _using_ her to get home, to get back to Springwood.

'_Thank you for bringing me home sweetheart. Daddy really appreciates it!'_

Maggie flinched as she heard his maniacal laughter echoing in her ears. She snarled silently and rebuked, "They won't remember you. The new kids won't know anything about you…!"

'_It doesn't matter. Some little fuck will find out about me and the then the nightmares will start again. I __**always **__get to my children. I got to __**you**__ after all these years, didn't I Katherine?'_

Maggie narrowed her eyes and scowled with anger. He was planning on destroying this town again. She knew it. But if no one knew about him, then the town would be safe.

She quickly sped off down the street, a thought crossing her mind as she turned into Elm Street. Her eyes darted to the left and right, yet again there were more removal vans parked outside the houses. As her old home came into view, Maggie's mouth went agape in disbelief. This couldn't be happening. She had to be imagining things.

Her old home at 1428 Elm Street was starting to be renovated too. There was scaffolding along the front of the house and down both sides of the building. So much for her idea of burning the house to the ground. It was a spur of the moment plan, that maybe if she destroyed her old home then maybe it could help stop him from getting to the children again. But now that idea was in ruins.

Just who in their right fucking mind would want to buy her old home?

She parked across from the house and peered at the buidling, seeing that the red door was starting to be painted a burnt yellow colour. The green tiles were being replaced and repainted. There was a lawn-mower parked on the weedy lawn, ready to be used. The front door was opened while she could see work men wandering inside.

Maggie quickly climbed out of the car and crossed the street towards the house, pondering on what to do. Should she warn whoever it was that had bought this house? Then again she should probably keep her mouth shut. If no-one knew about him the better. Then he wouldn't have enough strength or power to get into people's dreams.

"May I help you?"

Maggie jumped and spun around to the to the owner of the voice. Her eyes fell upon a tall dark haired man, perhaps in his early forties. He was dressed in a dark navy suit, with white shirt and navy striped tie. He stared sternly at her, waiting for her reply.

She broke out into an apolgetic smile, "Hello. Sorry for trespassing on your property. I didn't realise that someone had actually bought this house"

"Yes. I just completed the paper work last week. I know it's nothing much to look at, but the price is very reasonable" the man replied, "Don't tell me you're interested in it too?"

"Oh, no" Maggie replied curtly, "It's just strange how someone would want to buy it. Seeing the state it's in"

"Well, as I said. The price was very good" he held out his hand, "I'm Thomas Campbell. Are you new here to Springwood too?"

Maggie shook his hand firmly, "Maggie Burroughs. No, I'm just visiting"

"Family?"

Maggie gave a wry smile, "Something like that. I see that there are quite a few families moving here. Is the town going through a revamp?"

He nodded, "Yeah. The mayor has decided the town needs a new lease of life!"

Maggie nodded, sensing that this man wasn't tell her something. Maybe she was just being paranoid. He couldn't know anything about this town. She glanced at the house again, "So, do you have any idea why this house in such a bad state?"

He shook his head. However, he did know why it was in that state. He knew the history of the house. But didn't want to tell this woman about it. He had been given strict instructions from the Sheriff months before coming here about what had happened in Springwood over the course of the last twenty odd years.

The Sheriff and Mayor had been in contact with him four months ago, persuading him to try and help them rebuild the town. They knew that he was one of the main manufacturers of the drug Hypnocil and promised him their full support and any financial help in producing the product/ If he helped set up a new Sleep Disorder Research Facility up at Westin Hills. And so he agreed. He hadn't realised though severity of the crisis that had gripped this town. There were new families moving into the town, the school was starting to be renovated.

The town had a long way to go before it was back to its old self.

He had remembered the Mayor saying that the remaining adult population was in a state of mass psychosis in the last year or so. But now it seemed that the nightmare was over. Whoever defeated him, well the owed them their gratitude. Thomas Campbell slowly broke out of his thoughts and smiled at the woman in front of him, "We are hoping to move into the house next month"

"We?"

"My wife and daughter" he smiled.

Maggie swallowed thickly, "How old is your daughter?"

"Lori will be fourteen next month"

Maggie forced a smile, "I'll let you go. Good luck with your new home"

He nodded, "Thanks. Safe journey"

She quickly scurried back to the car, a feeling of dread starting to knot in the pits of her stomach. Hopefully, that man and his family never finds out what had happened to this town, who her father really was and the history behind that house. As long as long as no one remembered him then the town would be safe. Her eyes gleamed in realisation and she swiftly drove down the street, knowing where to go next.

**x x x**

Maggie strode down the barren corridor of Springwood High School. Her black pack back was hooked around her shoulders. She had looked into each empty classroom as she went. She wasn't entirely sure what classrom that old scrapbook was, but she was determined to find it and remove it from the school. Her heart fluttered in her chest as she peered into the last room, seeing the scrapbook on the desk in the middle of the room.

Stepping into the room she had expected to find that delusional teacher from the last time, but the room was empty. The white board was pulled down, the words **'Five, Six. Grab your crucifix'** scrawled in red ink was still visible. That would be the first thing that had to be destroyed. She marched over and ripped it down from its hinges and torn it into two, well as best as she could.

Her gaze fell towards the scrapbook and she went towards it, lifting it into her arms. If no one knew about him when he was alive or dead, then he wouldn't get into their dreams. So, taking this away from Springwood was the only way to stop him.

A chill went up her spine as she saw the numerous pages of her father's victims over the last ten years. There had to be hundreds. No, there were at least a few thousand of the dead children and teenagers.

Maggie shivered and unhooked her bag, unzipping the front compartment and then began to pull each page off of the wall until there was none left. She folded them neatly and placed them into the front compartment and then zipped it, throwing a strap of the bag over her shoulder. There was just one last place to go to and then that was her.

The front door of the Springwood Orphanage crept open as Maggie slowly entered. She peered down the small hallway towards the lounge area, expecting to see someone about. But it was eerily calm. The floorboards creaked under her feet as she entered the room, her gaze scouring the long coffee table in front of her. There were various children's paintings and drawings, but not the one she was looking for. Her gaze quickly turned towards a small cabinet in the corner of the room and she rushed towards it, seeing a drawing sticking from underneath it. She stooped to pick it up and smiled at her old drawing, then folded it into her back pack.

Maggie glanced around the room slowly, pondering if there was any files about her adoption about. If so, then they too needed to be taken away from Springwood. She didn't want anyone knowing about her true identity, it would stir up her father's memory too. Anything that was connected to her father had to be removed or destroyed.

It was near fifteen minutes later when she finally found some concrete information about her adotpion. The small office was trashed, every cabinet, ever drawer pulled opened and rummaged through. But now she found it, her adoption file. The front of the brown file was faded, but she could faintly see the name ' '. Her date of birth and the date of her adoption were faded out. She flicked through the file slowly, scowling in dismay. The pages were all blanked out. It seemed as though the town didn't want ANYONE to know about her real identity. She snapped it shut and left the Orphanage. It was time to get the hell out of this town.

Rubbings her eyes Maggie felt a sense of relief, feeing somewhat accomplished. Despite bringing his spirit back she knew that as long as no one discovered who he was, then the town would be safe. There would be no more nightmares.

Springwood could finally move on and she would too.

As Maggie's car approached the boundary of Springwood, she suddenly tensed as the hoarse voice of her father leered in her head.

'_You'll be back one day, princess. And daddy will be waiting for __**you**__…'_

_x x x _

_**Author's Note:** Mmm, I'm wasn't too happy with this chapter. I found it hard to write! lol Well, anyway, please review!_


	5. He's Back!

**Chapter 5:** He's Back!

_**Friday 3**__**rd**__** December 6.35pm…**_

Maggie smiled broadly as she congregated with Doc and Tracey in Doc's spacious office. Her disposition was in a far happier place than two months previously, she was more relaxed and her dreams were nightmare free. She hadn't even dreamt of her old memory from her childhood. It appeared she was getting her life back on track. However, despite her calm and composed exterior she was secretly keeping an eye on her old hometown.

Springwood.

It was in the middle of October that she had decided to set up a daily subscription to the Springwood Gazette which was delivered to her apartment complex each afternoon. To her this was the safest way of keeping an eye on Springwood, and to her relief nothing had happened so far. No apparent suicides or mysterious deaths of any children or teenagers. The town was safe, she had made sure of it by taking away that scrapbook of her father's evil transgressions when he was alive. There was no other way he could get back into the dreams of the kids unless someone knew about him and so it was only logical that she brought that book back home to Central City with her.

It was hidden way in the top of her built in wardrobe with his claw and fedora hat. A few times she had thought of reading more about his crimes, but wisely thought against it. The last thing she wanted was to stir up nightmares of his victims. For some bizarre reason she still hadn't destroyed his glove or his hat, as though she was keeping them as a memento of him.

Or was it for some other reason she was keeping them?

At least Doc had stopped pestering her about her sleeping patterns, the last time he did was at the start of November and she was being honest when she said that she hadn't a dream since the start of October. Everything was going back to normal, she felt safe at long last.

The brown haired woman looked up from her mug of coffee as she watched Tracey laughed heartily at one of Doc's jokes. It was the young girl's 17th birthday and both Maggie and Doc had thrown a small little party together for her. Nothing too extravagant, just a small birthday cake and a few presents they had bought for her. Usually, the teenagers weren't allowed in the counsellors offices after 5pm, but considering this was her special day Doc had persuaded his boss Kelly to allow the young girl down to his office.

"So" Maggie grinned and caught Tracey's attention, "I've heard from Doc that you're leaving the shelter in the new year? That social services have found you a suitable home?"

Tracey nodded excitedly, at long last she was getting out of the Shelter, she was moving on, "Yes, I've got a foster family. They're coming tomorrow to visit me. I'm hoping to move in with them at the start of January" she stare thoughtfully at her therapist and showed her appreciation, "I want to thank you. For everything you've done over the last six months. I know that I've been a bitch to you sometimes"

"Sometimes?" she arched an eyebrow.

"Okay!" the young girl cried, "All the time! I guess I never really knew you, I never knew how much you cared for me"

Maggie chuckled lightly, "You're fine! I'm used to it, you have to be thick skinned to work here!"

"That is very true!" Doc piped in.

"Are you signing up for school in the new year too?" Maggie asked.

"Yeah" Tracey replied nervously. It was going to be strange going back to school, especially around boys. "I'm enrolling in Harrington High School"

Maggie broke out into a pleased grin at this piece of news, "That's great! I went to that school, it's really good. If you want I can set up meetings with one of the school counsellors? If you know if you ever need to talk, I know her very well. She is very forthcoming, not as pushy as me!"

"That'll be great!" she cheeped, "Thanks!"

Looking down at her watch, Maggie sighed wearily, "I'm going to head on here. I've an early start in the morning, shopping with the mother!"

Doc smirked at her and offered, "I'll give you a lift home" he rose from the sofa and turned to Tracey, "Go on, up to your room. I'll be in the morning for an hour so I'll see you then"

Tracey quickly gathered her belongings and then smiled at them, "Thanks for the presents. Night"

Her two therapists watched as she hurried out of the room, before Maggie finally spoke, "Do you think those dreams of her father have stopped? You were using those dream therapy techniques to help her?"

"Yeah, she told me in our session at the start of the week that she hadn't a dream of her father in nearly two weeks" Doc stated proudly, "I've told you before dream therapy is the way forward in child psychology!"

She shook her head, "I'll stick to the conventional methods, thanks!"

Doc laughed and went to collect his coat from his coat stand in the corner of the room, "C'mon, let's get you home"

"I'll meet you at the car, I've to collect my case files" she swiftly left the room. Within five minutes later they were driving through the darkened streets of the City, heading to the north side of the city where Maggie's apartment complex was.

Doc glanced over at his friend, "Maggie, I know I haven't really asked this in a while, but how have your sleeping patterns been?"

Turning to face him she absently tugged her long brown coat closer to her thin frame, "I've been sleeping good. Probably the best I've been sleeping in a few years"

"Really?" he shot her a surprised look, "Are you sure?"

She scoffed in dismay, "Doc, I'm telling you the truth. I've hadn't had any bad dreams. Why do you ask?"

"I'm just looking out for you" he turned the car into the next road, "You definitely haven't had any flashbacks of that memory?"

"No" she shook her head and smiled at him reassuringly, "I've finally moved on"

Her friend broke out into a surprised grin, "That's good, I'm really happy for you Mags"

"Thanks" she returned his smile and looked out the window as her apartment complex came into view, "I really appreciate the lift home"

"No problem" he pulled the car to a stop, "Listen, have you any plans tomorrow night? A few of the staff from the shelter are meeting up for a few drinks at Robinson's bar, if you want to come?"

Maggie nodded enthusiastically, it was about time she went out and enjoyed herself. The last two months her whole life was work and more work. She needed to unwind and relax. "That sounds like a plan! What time are we meeting at?"

"About 8pm?"

"I'll see you then" she grinned.

"Good. Night Maggie"

She pulled opened her door and waved him goodbye as she left his car, and quickly entered the main lobby of her apartment complex. Wandering over to her right she went to a small row of post boxes, all of them had a small opening approximately three inches wide and six inches in length where the post and papers were placed through. She went to her own box, the one that read 2C and reached into her bag for her set of keys and began to unlock the box. Opening the door she reached inside for her mail and a folder up newspaper.

Tucking them under her arm she slammed the door shut and deftly made her way up the two flights of stairs to her apartment. As she entered her home she shut the door behind her and flicked on the living room light, and left her briefcase on her sofa as she walked towards her bedroom across the way. She stifled a yawn and kicked off her small black stilettos and discarded her long brown coat into her wardrobe.

Her hands gripped her mail and newspaper in her hands. Looking down at the two white envelopes she frowned, knowing that they were nothing but bills and threw them onto her dresser. She would deal with them later. Her main focus was what was going on in that town. She jumped onto her bed and sat against her headboard, spreading out the newspaper on her lap and with a deep breath began to read the main headline. It was to do with the news of 200 new jobs being created in a new call centre. The town seemed to be flourishing and that was what she wanted, for it to move on from the nightmares.

From him.

Smiling to herself Maggie slowly began to turn each page, scanning the articles and was relieved that everything appeared to be normal. The headlines were about news business ventures, the renovation of the town, how well the High School Football team was doing despite only being created a few months before. Just like the last six weeks there was no sign of any deaths or suicides, it was _over._

Then why did she not cancel her subscription, why did she continually have to read the Springwood Gazette. Was she trying to torture herself?

Shaking her head she turned the next page of the paper, her brown eyes scouring the articles and as she was about to close the paper shut, an article caught her eye. Her hands gripped the edges of the paper and she leaned forward, her mouth parting in horror at the headline.

**Three Teenaged Suicides**

She let out a startled gasp and swiftly read the few paragraphs, there were three suicides. Two boys named Jack Kingston aged 14, Bobby Davis aged 17 and Patricia Quinn aged 13. All of them happened within the same night. Her eyes welled with tears as she read the last few lines, discerning that there were two failed suicide attempts the previous week that only recently came to light. The two boys were admitted to Westin Hills Psychiatric Hospital that had over the last few weeks had a steady intake of teenagers. About eight so far.

The room began to spin as Maggie leaned back against the headboard, this couldn't be happening. There was no possible way _he_ could have gotten to the children. Her head lulled forward as if in a trance she turned the next page and in front of her was her was another sign, the biggest sign of all that he was back.

**Woman Found Dead **

Her lips quivered as she read the article. The number _**1428**_ flashed up at her and she swallowed the bile that had formed in her throat. A woman named Samantha Campbell was murdered at her home, in her bedroom. A young boy named Will Rollins was at the scene and was transferred to Westin Hills, he was just fourteen years old. It also briefly mentioned the dead woman's husband Thomas Campbell and their fourteen year old daughter Lori.

Scrunching the paper in her hands Maggie snarled in anger and threw it off the bed, sobbing to herself as she held her face in her hands. It was all her fault, she brought him home to Springwood and someone found out about him. "He was right" she whispered and lifted her teary face, "What have I done?"

Bolting off of her bed, Maggie ran into her living room and rushed towards her phone, lifting it and was ready to dial Doc's number when she froze, her fingers shaking as they were barely millimetres from the buttons. Did she really want him to know what she had done? Could she really put him in danger again? Perhaps she should wait it out. Maybe a week or two? She growled, what was she thinking? Wait? She couldn't fucking wait, people's lives were in danger!

Suddenly a name crossed her mind. An old work colleague from the Shelter. Paul Robertson. She vaguely remembered him mentioning to her at the end of October that he got a new job at Westin Hills in Springwood and that he was starting at the start of November. They had been friends for the last few years since he started working at the Shelter. What if he could help her? Of course she wouldn't tell him what exactly was happening, but if she could talk to him to find out what the fuck was going on!

Bringing her hand held phone with her she rushed back into her bedroom and stooped to pick up the newspaper, frowning in dismay. She had ripped it up a little. She flattened it out on the bed and looked through the pages for any phone numbers for Westin Hills, any kind of way of contacting the hospital. Seething silently she looked over to her PC and scurried towards it, sitting in the small swivel chair in front of it and pushed on the power button. There was a small whirring sound as it powered on, a soft humming coming from the hard drive as the screen flickered on. However, it was too slow for Maggie's likening as he clenched her right fist in anger, "Come on! Hurry up!"

A few minutes later she was typing in Westin Hills Springwood in the search bar and hit the enter button. It took a few seconds for a list of entries to come up and she grabbed a pen and her notebook off the top shelf of the computer stand, writing down the number swiftly. Lifting her cordless phone from her lap she punched the number in.

**452 5614**

After the sixth ring she began to become irritated and hissed, "Answer the fucking phone!"

It continued to ring, making Maggie snarl again as she rose to her feet. Then suddenly it went to a voice recording as a female voice stated, "All our lines are busy at the moment. Please hold and we'll try and answer your call as soon as possible!"

She continued to hold on, her eyes rolling in aggravation and after a minute she hung up, "Fuck!" she then hit the re-dial button and took a deep breath. Hoping that this time she would be more successful. She was never a very patient woman and now she knew who she got that trait from.

Her eyes lit up in surprise as the phone was finally answered.

"Hello, this is Westin Hills reception. Marianne speaking!"

Maggie forced cheeriness in her voice as she spoke, "Hi Marianne, my name is Dr Maggie Burroughs and I was wondering if I could speak to one of the doctors there. A Dr Paul Robertson?"

Marianne mused silently to herself, knowing that her orders were not to disclose any information to any outsiders of the town or anyone not involved in the new _**'project' **_that had started in the hospital the last few weeks. She wasn't allowed to transfer calls to any of the doctors For all she knew this woman could be a member of the press! "Who did you say you were?"

"Dr Maggie Burroughs" she rebuked, noticing that the woman was a little suspicious, "I need to speak to Dr Robertson. I used to work with him in Central City. I'm telling you the truth, it's very important that I talk to him!"

There was a few seconds of silence, then the receptionist spoke, "I'm sorry but Dr Robertson is very busy at the moment…" her voice trailed off as a startled scream echoed in the background.

Maggie gripped the phone as she strained to hear the commotion in the background, there was signs of someone struggling, shouting loudly and then another piercing scream. Then suddenly the phone line went dead.

Her face paled as she lowered the phone and she dropped onto her bed in shock. It was happening all over again. Her eyes lowered to the newspaper article on her bed covers. The town had to be prepared this time. They wouldn't dare let what happened to the town start all over again. Whoever was in chargedwould have set up some sort of contingency plan to stop him from spreading into other people's dreams. They wouldn't be so stupid not to have something in place, would they?

One thing was sure, she did feel a certain amount of guilt for what was happening. She had brought him back there, had kept his memory alive by remembering him. But how did he get into someone's dreams, was there something she missed? A missing newspaper article about him? It didn't matter now, as he was back, she was certain of it! Should she risk it and go back to that town? Face him again so soon? He had sneered at her that she would be back, but this was too soon for her. If she could only speak to Paul, find out what was going on. Then she would make her decision then. As for going to sleep tonight, that was out of the fucking question. Her mind was filled with thoughts of _him_ and if she did go to sleep, could he somehow appear to her? Well, she wasn't going to find out.

**x x x**

Maggie covered her mouth with her right hand as she stifled a long yawn. Her adoptive mother Sarah, threw her a curious glimpse as they sat in one of the cream booths in a small coffee shop at the City Mall. It was just past mid-day and they had just finished their morning shopping trip.

"Maggie, are you okay dear?" her mother murmured, then took a sip of her tea, "You look tired?"

Leaning back in her chair, she smiled warmly at her, "Yeah, just had a few case files to look through and finish last night. You know how it is, deadlines and such? Didn't get to sleep until late"

Well, she didn't get to sleep at all.

Sarah nodded, "Okay, so no bad dreams?"

"No!" Maggie replied, then changed the topic of conversation, "I love your dress, it will go perfect with the jewellery I got you for your birthday!"

Her mother grinned and peeked into her white plastic shopping bag to her right, "Thanks. I appreciate you coming shopping with me. I know I'm not the greatest person to shop with!"

"Well, you are picky mother" Maggie teased, then paused pensively, "I might go to the graveyard tomorrow, if you want to go?"

"I thought you didn't like going there, dear" her mother arched an eyebrow in disbelief.

"I don't" Maggie stated dryly, "But it's just I haven't been in a while, nearly two years. I still think about him now and then. How long has it been, ten years next August?"

"Yes"

Maggie leaned forward on her elbows and clasped her slender hands together, staring grimly at her mother. "You never really told me what happened. I mean, you just said that dad had a car accident. You never said where or how it happened"

Sarah sighed, "You were out of the country sweetheart, you were in Europe travelling and I didn't want to tell you much. I wanted to wait until you come home for the funeral"

"Yes, but when I came home the day after I phoned you, you never told me. I understand that you were in shock after the news of his death, but even months after he passed way you never spoke to me about it" her lips went dry as she nervously asked, "Where did his car crash?"

"His car was found near the outskirts of Springwood"

Maggie blinked slowly, her hands trembling and she glowered in trepidation at her mother, "S-springwood? Where I was adopted from?"

Sarah nodded grimly, "Yes. You know how your father had to travel to business meetings for his work. He had a business associate in Springwood and had stayed for a few days there. When he was on his way home, supposedly he had fallen asleep at the wheel. That is what I was told"

Slumping back in her seat, Maggie gripped the edge of the table. Could Martin's death be linked to him? To her real father? If he had fallen asleep at the wheel….

"What happened to his body?" Maggie began, "The casket was closed, I never saw his body!"

"A passing police patrol found his car. It was in flames" her mother gulped, a few tears trickling down her face and she wiped them away. Her face lifted upwards seeing that Maggie's face had gone deathly pale, her eyes were vacant. Staring at the table, lost in thought. "I shouldn't have told you. Listen, we can go to the cemetery next week? Buy some nice roses and fix up the grave a bit?"

Maggie took a deep breath and smiled meekly, "Yeah, that'd be nice!"

"I'm just going to the toilet here. Back in a few minutes"

Maggie didn't respond, her thoughts jumping all over the place. Not only did HE kill her real mother, he also callously murdered Martin Burroughs. The only man she had ever thought was her father. The man who raised her, cared and loved her from as long as she could remember. Everyone that she cherished, he had taken away.

It was him, he had killed Martin purely out of retribution for taking her in…

**x x x**

Maggie bit her bottom lip as she rang Westin Hills for the third time in a row, but at least this time she was finally getting put through to Paul Robertson, her old work colleague. Her persistence had finally paid off. She grinned widely as he heard his familiar friendly deep voice on the other end of the line, "Hello?"

"Hi, Paul. It's Maggie Burroughs here"

"Maggie?!" he cried in delight, "How the hell are you?"

She smirked, "I've been keeping well. You? How are you settling into Springwood?"

He frowned and his dark blue eyes looked from desk through the window of his door, as two orderlies dourly pushed a comatose girl down the corridor. Just another one of the teenagers having been administered the dream suppressant, Hypnocil. The fourth one this week. When was it going to stop? "I'm good. So, why the unexpected phone call?" his lips curled into a teasing grin, "You missing me already Mags?"

A merry laugh erupted from Maggie, just the same Paul she remembered. Always cracking jokes! "Yeah, I'm missing you. Just a little bit though" her tone went serious, "But in all seriousness, I just wanted to check on things. How is everything? What's going on?"

He looked down at his case files in front of him, "What do you mean?"

Maggie sat down on her bed, glaring sombrely at the news article, "I saw the news paper last night. The Springwood Gazette. I've a subscription, I saw the article about the suicides. Teenagers being admitted to Westin Hills in the last week or so"

He gripped his black phone and gulped worryingly, should he really tell her? He swore that he would keep his mouth shut. But she was a good friend of his. What harm could it do? She was concerned, that's all. "We're getting things under control. We have a programme in place to deal with the situation!"

Maggie swallowed thickly, "Situation? What exactly is going on?" her voice wavered slightly, "H-has it anything to do with dreams? The kids are having nightmares, aren't they?"

There was an edgy silence as though he was contemplating his reply, before Maggie called out, "Paul! Are you still there?"

"Yes" he breathed apprehensively, "Maggie, how did you Know they're having dreams? No one outside the hospital let alone Springwood knows about what is going on here!"

Her body sagged wearily against the bed as she pushed herself against her pillows, "It's a long story. Just how is the 'situation' under control?"

"I don't think I've the authority to tell you Maggie!"

She scowled and snapped furiously, "Damn it Paul, tell me! I need to know if it's _him_!"

Paul froze, his blood going cold. How the fuck did she know? "Him?"

Maggie sighed in frustration, "Yes, him. I don't want to say his name. But I know that you _know_ who I'm talking about. I've dealt with him before"

He nodded as he sat in his office. Of course he knew who that bastard was. Dr Campbell had told him the day after he arrived in Westin Hills. It was the start of November when the first few teenagers were admitted to Westin Hills. He couldn't tell Maggie the whole story of what was going on, that since the 1st week of November there had been at least ten deaths and about 14 suicide attempts. Thankfully, the press didn't know the whole story. Only what had happened the past week or two. Unfortunately, the head of the operation had lost his wife just three days ago. Despite the devastation of losing his wife, Dr Campbell had came into work the day after, wanting to press on with his work. Wanting to stop that monster from spreading even further through the town.. He had even sent his teenaged daughter away from the town until he believed things would settle down. The last thing he wanted was his daughter to be plagued with nightmares of that madman.

Just how did Maggie know? And did she confront him before? When? Did she ever go to Springwood herself?

"Maggie, how the fuck do you know what's going on?"

"Never mind that" she brushed the question off, "What sort of programme do you have in place?"

"It's a drug programme. We're using Hypnocil"

Maggie mused thoughtfully, she had never heard of that drug. "What is that? I've never heard of it!"

"It's been kept under wraps for a very long time. Perhaps a decade or so. It's a dream suppressant, stops you from dreaming"

Maggie's lips pulled upward into a contented grin, so it stops people from dreaming? Get a way around that father dearest! "So, is there a good supply of the drug? Enough to keep him at bay?"

"Yes" he nodded profusely, "The teenagers we have here at the minute are being administered it to help stop the dreams"

"Good" she smiled, "How long are they going to stay there? When will they be allowed back into the community, back home to their families?"

"I'm not sure" he replied truthfully, "That decision is made by my boss"

"Can I speak to him?"

"No" he sighed, "I'm sorry"

"Okay" there was disappointment in her voice, "When was the last death?"

"It was about two days ago. Since then there hasn't been anymore fatalities or people being admitted because of failed attempts" he responded, "Any of the friends of the kids who have died, well we've been contacting them and asking them to come forward. We've asked them about their dreams, most of them haven't had any. But to be on the safe side we've subscribed all of them Hypnocil for a few weeks. Hopefully, by then the _problem_ will be gone"

"Let's fucking hope so!" Maggie grumbled, "Listen you know my home and mobile number right? I'll be in contact at the end of the month to see how things are. But phone me if anything happens, okay? Promise me that you'll keep that town safe, look after those kids!"

"Of course Maggie" his voice was firm and sincere, "It was nice speaking to you, I wish it was under better circumstances"

Maggie smiled sombrely, "So, do I. You take care Paul"

"You too, Mags. Bye!"

She let out a low deep breath, a few stray tears falling from her eyes and she uneasily rose to her feet. Jadedly she left her bedroom and then jumped as the cordless phone in her hand rung. Letting out a small nervous laugh she pressed the green answer button and raised it to her right ear, "Hello?"

"Hi" it was Doc, "Just phoning to check if you are still okay to head out tonight?"

"Head out?"

Fuck she had completely forgot about it!

"Yeah, Robinsons bar? At 8pm?" Doc laughed, "Don't tell me you forgot?"

"Oh no!" she lied, "I'll meet you there"

Doc felt uneasy, as though she wasn't herself. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah!" her voice was tainted with fake zeal, "I'm just going to get a quick shower and I'll text you when I'm on my way. Though I won't be staying that long, have a lot of work to catch up on before Monday"

"Okay. I'll see you later"

Maggie nodded and then hung up, letting out a long aggravated sigh. Fuck! This was the last thing she wanted, to go out on a social event with her work colleagues. Not with the way her mind was at this moment in time. But still if it took her mind of what was happening in Springwood even for a few hours, then so be it

_**9pm….**_

As usual Robinsons Bar was a hustle of activity, the long bar was packed with revellers queuing for their drinks. A small three piece rock band played on a small stage at the back of the bar, while the dance floor was rammed with party goers dancing with their friends and partners. Across from the bar were several large round booths, each of them occupied and their tables were filled with various drinks - bottles of beers, shot glasses, bottles of wine.

At the second booth Maggie, Doc and three of their fellow work colleagues congregated, the majority of them chatting away and revelling in the party atmosphere of the bar. Except for Maggie. So much for trying to keep her mind off of Springwood and her real father, it wasn't working at all. She just wasn't in the mood.

Her normal bobbed hair was tied back into a tight bun, a few stray curls of her hair hung around her face and adorning her body was a pair of dark jeans, a thin red strapped party top, with speckles of silver diamantes stitching along the edge of the top of her garment. Her inane gaze was set on her half drunken bottle of light miller, as her left hand idly peeled away the label from the bottle. Anyone would have thought she as a funeral never mind a night out having fun.

Doc looked up from his glass of whiskey and stared solemnly at her subdued deposition, "Maggie!" he shouted out over the music, "Are you okay?"

Her eyes blinked slowly as though she was shaken out of a trance and lifted her gaze towards him, forcing a weak smile, "Yeah, I'm fine!"

He rolled his eyes and stood, motioning for her to follow him. She gritted her teeth in annoyance, what the fuck did he want now? Grumpily she pursued him, both of them weaving their way through the crowds until they were at the front of the bar where it was a little more easier to hear each other.

"So, what's wrong?" Doc demanded.

"Nothing!" she rebuked coolly.

He crossed his arms over his blue shirt and shook his head, "Don't' lie to me, I know you too well Maggie. You have barely spoken a word all evening!"

Maggie avoided his stern glare and shrugged her shoulders, what the hell could she tell him? She didn't want him to know about what was happening in Springwood. He would want to go there and help out, she knew it. She didn't want him in danger!

Noticing that she wasn't going to reply, he continued, "Did you have a dream?"

She shook her head vehemently, "No, it's just…"

"What Maggie?" he egged her on.

"Me and my mother were talking about my father…" she saw the look of terror on his face, then reassured him, "My adoptive father. Martin. You've never met him. He passed over nine years ago. We were talking this morning and now I'm a little upset about it"

She was partially telling the truth about her fool mood, that she was sad about Martins' death all those years ago, but for some bizarre reason he wasn't as distressed about his passing now that she usually was. Another reason for her dreadful mood was that she was thinking about her father, her biological father too much over the last day or so.

All she had to remember was what Paul had told her earlier that evening, that the situation was being resolved. He was a good and honest man, someone she could rely on back in that town. It had been what nearly three years since she met him, when he first started to work at the Shelter.

The Youth Shelter was her third job as a Child Psychologist and to be honest with herself, her most rewarding to date. It was back in July 1986 when after graduating with her post graduate degree in Child Psychology and Social Studies that she obtained a job at Mercy Hospital as a Child Therapist, where she worked for a little over three years before she decided to go and do some travelling for a year around Europe, mainly France and Italy.

It was in early August 1990 when her father Martin Burroughs had passed way and she hurried home, making it on time for his funeral. A few months later she had applied for a few jobs and had been offered a job in the Children's ward in the City Hospital, dealing with traumatised children who had lost their parents due to illness and those dealing with their own illnesses. For five years she worked tirelessly at her job at the hospital, until she heard of the new Youth Shelter on the Southside of the city, in one of the more run-down areas of the City and knew that was where she wanted to work and had changed her job. Much to he dismay of her mother. It was in late 1997 when Paul Robertson had joined the Shelter and she had taken a shine to him.

She jumped slightly as she felt Doc's warm hand on her bare shoulder, "Maggie, I didn't know about your father Martin.. You very rarely talked about him. You never told me how he passed away"

Casting her gaze up to him, she grimly replied, "He died in a car crash. I wasn't here at the time, I was in France travelling. My mother contacted me, she was in bits. I got the first plane home as soon as I could. She told me that he was travelling home from a business trip and his car crashed"

"Business trip?"

"He was an accountant for a local business firm in the City. He had to travel about the state a few times a year" she replied wearily.

"Where was he when he crashed?"

She shook her head and fibbed, " I don't know. Look, can we change the subject?"

Doc nodded and offered, "Yes of course. Do you want a drink? Maybe something a bit stronger than beer?"

"Yeah" she smiled, "A glass of wine would be great, thanks! I'll meet you back at the table, just going to the toilet"

He smirked and watched as she made her way into the female toilets to their right. She heaved a deep sigh and stood drearily at the long rectangular mirror, and gripped the edge of the white sink with her hands. Her head lowered slightly as she began to exhale and inhale slowly, trying her best not to break down into a torrent of tears.

Her mother's words kept ringing in her ears from earlier that morning, that Martin's car was found in Springwood. There was no doubt in her mind that it was him, her real father who had killed him. It wasn't a fucking accident, but cold murder! Scowling angrily she lifted her eyes toward the mirror, as she continued to be hunched over the sink. Again she kept thinking of how much she resembled him, the shape of her jaw was just like his. Sharp and distinct.

Despite their eye colour not being the same, she could still see the cold intense gaze in her eyes, the exact same stare he had given her when he was fighting her in the basement. She was definitely_ his_ child.

Snapping her eyes shut she straightened up and clenched her fists at her side in anger, why the fuck did she have to go back there? Those suicides and that woman's death was her fault, their blood was on her hands. Because she so foolishly went back there. Her body went cold as she remembered those word he had smugly sneered to her.

_Thank you for bringing me home, sweetheart! Daddy really appreciates it!_

She frowned and a small tear trickled down her face. If she had just stayed in Central City, then none of those deaths or those failed suicides attempts would never have happened. But then again would he have came back for her and her friends gain? His spirit was still alive, she was still _remembering_ him and that was all that mattered. If someone remembered him he could easily get into their dreams. She scowled and slammed her hand against the cream sink in anger. "Stupid. I'm so fucking stupid!"

Hopefully, Paul and the other doctors in Westin Hills would stop him before he would become out of control. If this Hypnocil could stop him from getting to the children's dreams, then she welcomed it. With any luck they would be able to contain him sooner rather than later. There was too much at stake, too many children and teenagers lives were at risk The last fucking thing she wanted was more teenagers deaths hanging on her conscious.

**x x x**

It wasn't until past mid-night when Maggie finally came home from her social event with her work colleagues, and for the last hour or two she had began to enjoy herself. Saying that, the four glasses of wine did help sooth her frayed nerves and pushing those disturbing thoughts of her father back to her mind.

Maggie turned over onto her bed as she grumbled to herself in her slumber and her brows furrowed into discomfort as she felt wetness beneath her body, soaking her cream pyjamas. It felt as though she was lying on damp grass. Her eyes shot up and stared confusingly at the darkened sky above her, that was littered with small yellow stars. Her lips parted in wonder, "What the hell?"

Using her arms she pushed herself to a sitting position and curiously studied her environment. A large patch of grass surrounded her and there was a long winding road to her right, that stretched onwards down towards a small intersection. To her left she saw two large ten foot steel gates that were sealed shut. On top of each gate was the words - City Cemetery.

Prudently she rose to her feet, cringing at the feel of the wetness of the grass beneath her bare feet and steadily made her way towards the gates, stepping onto the gravel of the road. Her hands curled around the black metal bars and she glowered grimly into the darkened grounds, her brown eyes discerning the outlines of the headstones.

There was a low metallic groan as the gates suddenly creaked open, making her step back in alarm and wildly look about the area. What the fuck was going on? Why was she dreaming of this? With a renewed sense of determination she marched through the opened gates, and glanced behind her as the gates leisurely closed shut locking her inside the deserted graveyard.

Her eyes scoured the area as she turned right across a small narrow lane, passing several rows of headstones and she soon crossed onto the grass nearing four rows of graves near a few tall trees. She knew exactly where she was heading to, to her father's grave. She passed a large oak tree and came to a halt a few feet before a large gravestone, approximately three feet in length and two feet in height. Her eyes held a distant look as she read the inscription,.

_**Martin Burroughs.**_

_**Died 10**__**th**__** August 1990**_

_**Age 52**_

_**Beloved Husband of Sarah &amp;**_

_**Devoted father of Maggie**_

Maggie continued to stare numbly at the headstone, not a flinch of emotion showing across her face. She remained motionless, her legs locked into place until a loud clap of thunder from the dark skies above shook her out of her trance. Her head jerked upwards as the crescent mood began to be engulfed by thick black clouds, then slowly a steady torrent of rain began to pour down on her. She lowered her trembling gaze back towards the headstone and her eyes went wide in horror as the rain hitting the stone transformed into trickles of blood, each droplet smearing down over the words of the inscription into a message…

_**He was never your daddy Katherine….**_

Maggie gasped and took a few defensive steps back, her body going taunt with fear. Was he here? In her dreams? But there was no way he should be, his spirit was back in Springwood? Unless because he was her father and they shared the same blood, that he could somehow influence her dreams from where he was in Springwood?

A crackle of lightening flashed across the sky and soon a low rumbling sound echoed from all around, but not from the sky. But from the ground. The headstones began to shake and crumble, breaking into two, the ground shaking violently as though an earthquake was hitting the area. Maggie shrieked and staggered back, falling into the trunk of the tree and grasped onto the bark with her hands. Her terrified gaze turned towards Martin's grave as the grass and mud began to disintegrate, the grave opening up and two scarred and decimated hands clawed at the edge of the grave. Soon, a body slithered out of the chasm, grabbing at the grass as it heaved itself fully out of its hallow grave.

Maggie broke out of her horrified trance and pulled herself to her feet, stepping back from the tree, her bare feet sliding against the muddy ground. Her eyes never left the corpse of her adoptive father. It was her first time seeing him like this, having never seen inside his casket and now she knew why.

His skin was marred with third degree burns, his burnt skin was literally hanging from his body. On his face, the skin on his right side cheek was missing, revealing dark skull and his teeth were rotted and black as he gave her a pleased grin. What really alarmed her was the long parallel slash marks that were carved down from his chest to his stomach along his white shirt, the blood was still oozing from the wounds as if they only happened recently.

She knew who made those slash marks.

Her body jolted to life as she saw him stagger to his feet, his charred hands reaching out to her as he cooed gruffly, his voice hoarse and all so _familiar_, "_I've missed you…"_

Maggie gritted her teeth and spun away into a run. Her feet skidded on the wet and mushy grass as she passed several gravestones, not daring to look behind her. But she knew that _'it'_ was still chasing her. It wasn't Martin, she knew that and she couldn't allow whatever _it_ was to get her.

She veered to her right and ran across a long thin patch of grass, but then stumbled forward, her legs becoming stuck in a thick patch of mud. She squealed and frantically reached out for a nearby headstone, her fingers millimetres from it as she longed for something to pull herself out of the mud. She threw a quick glance behind her and cursed as she saw the cadaver stalking towards her.

"_Maggie…"_

She cringed at the sound of that voice, knowing it had to be him. The fucker had somehow invaded her dreams! With all her vigour she stretched out and grabbed the rim of the head stone and yanked herself out of the muddy hole, crawling forward and was about to make a run for it when she felt the corpse jumping onto her back, its bony hands clawing at her hair as she screamed in horror.

Lifting her right elbow she lashed out at him as he flipped her over to face him, his hands reaching down towards her face. Maggie grunted and viciously slapped at his hands and finally looked up at his decimated face, staring at his eyes. But wait they were _different_, the colour wasn't emerald green that they should be. They were blue, ice blue.

_His_ eyes!

The corpse leered at her, "_Come to daddy…"_

Maggie shook her head in defiance and clenched her right fist and aimed it for his head, but he jerked out of the way of her fist and began to laugh. That sinister, gritty and ferocious laugh. His right had crudely began to stroke her damp hair and he slowly lowered his ghastly face towards her, his tongue lapping out at her as he hissed, "_Give daddy a kiss…"_

Maggie snapped her eyes shut and let out a powerful scream…

**x x x**

**please review!**


	6. Recollections

**Author's Note: **At last I have finally got back to updating this. Apologies for the long wait! I enjoyed writing this chapter. There will be maybe two or three chapters left. Please leave a little review, thanks! Enjoy!

**Chapter 6**: Recollections

Maggie shot up in bed, a small squeal of disgust ripping from her throat as she thought back to the image of that vile, black, charred serpent tongue slithering out to lap at her cheek. Her hands wiped brusquely at her cheek and she neared gagged at the sight of a thin slime of saliva connected to her fingers. It was revolting.

Her brown orbs narrowed in distrust as she took in her new surroundings. She wasn't in her bedroom, it looked smaller. Her body rested on a small single bed. To her left was a long pristine white chest of drawers. Across from the bottom of the bed on the cream carpet was a variety of dolls, in different sizes and colourful dress. There was also a large plastic doll house and a plastic kitchen set. The walls were papered in bright pink wallpaper and several pieces of drawings were dotted here and there on the wall to her right. Maggie's heart caught in her throat, she was in her old bedroom in 1428 Elm Street.

It was only when she heard a small giggle that she lowered her head towards the bottom of the and that was when she saw her.

Little Katherine.

Her bright face beamed up at her. The little apparition of herself was dressed in the same pyjamas as herself, her brown tresses were draped over her small shoulders, accentuating her big brown eyes.

In a flash Katherine scampered further up the bed and snuggled onto Maggie's lap, leaning into her gently, "Hi!"

Maggie glanced nervously about the bright room, wondering what the hell was going on with her dream. First, she was being chased by the dead corpse of her adoptive father and now she was getting reacquainted with the childhood spirit of herself. Slowly, she raised her right hand to caress Katherine's soft hair, "Hello, what are you doing here? In my dream?"

Katherine leant back on her knees and stared gravely at her, "He said I've to keep you company!"

"H-he?" she stammered, nervous. "You mean, our father?"

"Yes" the young girl chirped and teased, "You are_ silly_!"

Maggie felt Katherine entangle her hands with hers, "Are you real?"

Katherine shifted closer to her. "I'm your memory. Daddy says I have to help you remember. Then when the time is right, you'll come home"

"Home?" she was taken back, "But I can't go back to Springwood!"

The girl scowled in dismay, "But you have to! He says you have to come home. He said I have to do this for him, to help you remember all the happy times we had together with him. The memories _they_ made you forget! Then you'll go home to see Daddy!"

"Why?" Maggie cried, "Why does he want me to go home?"

"Because he's our daddy! You belong in Springwood! We don't belong in Central City!" Katherine commented.

A knot form in Maggie's throat, the last thing she wanted to do was go back there and face his wrath. He was going to be fucking fuming with her for betraying him again. Once was bad enough when she was a little girl, but twice? Oh, no she was staying where she was.

"I miss daddy. Do you miss him?"

She was shocked by this question. How could she reply to her? Could she admit that she was afraid of going back there, that she was actually afraid of their father? Not the loving and tender 'father' the little girl in front of her remembered, but the vicious and barbaric monster that was lurking in people's dreams. The fiend that tried to kill her and her friends over a few months before. Her body sagged sullenly against the pillows as she answered truthfully. "I don't know. Do you remember what he did? What happened to our mother?"

The little girl's face turned despondent and she nodded grimly, "He says I'm not allowed to talk about it. But I did, I told on him. I told my teacher that mommy was given her medicine for being too nosy and now she's away" a few droplets of tears rolled down her face, "Do you remember that? Telling Miss Ferguson?"

She shook her head lightly, "I just remember being taken away from our father and that day in the garden"

Katherine abruptly stood to her feet on the bed and grinned broadly, "How about we start now?"

"Start?" Maggie swallowed, "Start what?"

"Bringing back your memories" she excitedly jumped up and down on the mattress, the springs creaking loudly beneath her weight, "It will be fun!"

Maggie chewed her bottom lip with unease.

Katherine's eyes went wide as an idea entered her head, "Oh, I know, I'll show you all the games Daddy played with us! Do you remember the big bad wolf game?"

"No, I don't"

Jumping off the bed Katherine grabbed Maggie's hands and pulled her off of the bed, "Come on! Let's go!"

Maggie nodded and gripped the little girl's left hand. When she first discovered who HE was to her, she didn't want to remember anything about her childhood with him. But now over the last few weeks, perhaps the last month the urge to find out those lost memories was becoming to strong to resist. All she knew of her father was the sadistic fiend who tried to kill her, Doc and Tracey. The odd time she had found herself staying up all night reading those dark and disturbing news paper articles of his heinous deeds. Maybe it would be beneficial for her frame of mind to remember all the happy times she had with him when she was a little girl, what harm could it do?

"Okay" Maggie stepped forward a few feet then tugged Katherine's hand to stop her, "But he won't appear to me, it will just be memories? Yes?"

"Yes" she nodded eagerly, "He isn't here"

Maggie nodded once and allowed herself to be trailed over towards the darkness beyond the bedroom door. As the walked though the doorway a bright dazzling white light engulfed them…

_Flashback…_

_**November Saturday 5**__**th**__** November 1966…**_

_It was a surprisingly bright and dry day in Springwood. Despite it being in the middle of autumn it was quite warm for once. Katherine sat contentedly at the far end of her back yard, again surrounded by her various dolls and large teddy bears. The fabric around the knees of her jeans were stained a light colour, from leaning on the grass for the last hour as she played. Her mother wouldn't be best pleased about that. _

_Her head turned towards the basement doors as they were flung opened, revealing her father as he stepped onto the neatly cut lawn. She sprung to her feet, a cheerful smile growing across her face as she ran towards him. "Daddy! You're home! Would you play with me? Please?"_

"_That's why I came out here for, princess" he smirked and bent down to peck her lightly on her lips, "You been good for your mommy?"_

"_Yep!" she beamed._

"_Good" he straightened up, "How about we play a new game today?"_

"_A new game?" Her eyes lit up, "Do I know it?"_

"_No" he shook his head, "It's a new one I made up. About this big bad wolf and this little __**cute**__ piggy he chases and eats ALL up!"_

_A barrage of giggles came from her as she realised what he was talking about, "It's like what I told you last week, at Halloween? When I dressed up as the werewolf? Are you going to the big bad wolf, daddy?"_

_He smiled impishly and nodded._

"_Do you want me to get my Halloween mask for you?"_

_He chuckled and shook his head in discord, "Oh, I don't need a mask!"_

_His lips slowly curled into a dark, hungry snarl and he growled playfully at her. In turn making her chortle in amusement, "So, I'm the little piggy? You are going to chase me about the garden?"_

_Her eyes fell upon his fingers as he leisurely flexed and curled them, getting ready for the chase. "Yes, now I'll give you a head start. I'll count to ten okay?"_

_Katherine grinned and spun away, her feet carrying her towards the back of the garden. Tucked to her left was a large rose bush and she deftly slid in between it, in front of the fence and waited patiently for the game to begin._

_Freddy smiled mischievously as he continued to count to ten and looked around the garden vacantly, as if staring at nothing in particular. He flashed his teeth into a small snarl, "Ten"_

_He titled his head to the side and sniffed the air, pretending to smell her scent as his voice went into a deep playful leer, "Oh, I smell a little piggy! I wonder, where SHE is?"_

_There was a small giggle from behind the rose bush as Katherine smiled merrily to herself. Her little body stooped lower onto the ground as her eyes peered through the leaves and roses. She watched with anticipation as the 'big bad wolf' slowly and predatorily stalked along the side of the fence to where she was hiding. His body was hunched over and his hands were raised, finger curled inwards like they were his claws. Her left hand clamped over her mouth to keep her rupture of giggles at bay. _

_A shadow loomed above her and she instinctively dashed out from behind the bush, and shrieked in laughter as the big bad wolf lunged for her and missed by mere inches. _

"_C'mere little piglet!" he hissed and grinned._

_She ran away from him and then twisted her head towards him, sticking her tongue out at him smugly, "A-ha! You can't catch me you big bad wolf!"_

_Freddy couldn't help but laugh at her conceitedness. He always knew she had a little bit of a brashness about her and today she was showing it in full. His feet picked up their pace as he pursued her again and wiggled his fingers at her, "Oh, I bet you I can. Then I'll eat you all up!"_

_She grinned and veered around the tall oak tree near the steps of the basement and hid behind the trunk. Her fingers grasped the deep brown bark and her eyes went wide in glee as he approached her. She played along and feigned terror, "Oh, no! Someone help me!" then she broke out into a fit of giggles. _

_This was too much fun!_

_She suddenly darted to her right and sprinted towards the back of the garden, he quickly sidestepped and his hands swooped to grab her. But she ducked under his reach and laughed as he chucked to himself. With a joyful smirk, he sprang into a run and soon caught up with her, his hands curling around her waist and he gently spun her to face him. Her lips were pulled into a cheerful grin as he whispered into her ear as he drew her close, "Got you **my** little piggy!"_

_A hearty laugh came from her as he impishly attached his lips to the side of her neck, pretending to gnaw and munch at her flesh. Her small hands lightly whacked his shoulders attempting to get him to stop. But he laughed against her skin and dropped to his knees, his fingers tickling at her waist underneath her mint green t-shirt. _

"_S-stop that!" she managed to choke out between her giggles, "That t-tickles!"_

_He rolled onto her back and ceased his attack on her neck, and pulled her legs over each side of his waist so that she was straddling him. She let out a deep breath and smiled down at him as he tenderly stroked her flushed red face, "You enjoy that game?"_

"_Yeah! I loved it" she nodded, "Can we play it again?"_

_He was about to agree when Loretta's voice called out from the kitchen window, "Dinner is ready!"_

_Katherine crossed her arms across her chest in displeasure, "Aw!"_

_Freddy sat up to kiss her nose and then beckoned her off his lap, "You heard your mommy, we've to go inside. I'll play with you later, okay?"_

_She grinned and rose to her feet, then stepped forward as her motioned for her to climb onto his back. Her hands interlocked around his chest as he gave her a piggy back into the house._..

Again a vibrant white light flashed throughout the garden. Maggie blinked wildly as she stood in the middle of the back yard, the night stars twinkling above her in the velvet sky. Her mind was now disconnected from the memory, but she knew it was now embedded in the back of her mind. A stray tear tricked down her face as she wiped it away with the back of her hand, before lowering her gaze to Katherine as she looked up at her.

"Daddy _loved _playing with us!"

Maggie knelt to her knees and nodded, "I know that now. I saw how happy he was, when he was playing with me. I mean, with _you_"

"But you are me! We're the same person!" Katherine reminded her, "You ARE Katherine, but you've grown up!"

She was speechless. Katherine was right, they were one in the same. Her lips parted as she let out a deep sigh. That memory did show that her father was normal around her, kind, warm-hearted, playful. A loving father. But inside she knew who he REALLY was, and that was hurting her. That he was really a child murderer and molester.

"You mean his special work?" Katherine read her thoughts.

Maggie looked straight at her, "What?"

"That's what he calls it, his special work"

"But there was _nothing_ special about what he was doing!" Maggie tried to explain, "He was killing the children, I'm sure some of them were our friends! He was doing bad things to them! It wasn't right!"

Katherine frowned, "But he was still our daddy! He still is now!"

"But he's _changed_!" she gently grabbed the girl's shoulders, hoping that she understood "You have to listen to me, you need to understand. He's evil now, he's not the same person he was when he was alive!"

"I don't care" Katherine sobbed, "I love my daddy! I remember all the good times with him. He wasn't bad to me, he wasn't a monster to me. I was his special little angel, his princess. He would always call that to us! He loved me and he loves _you_!"

Maggie gasped in disbelief at this, "No, he doesn't love me anymore"

The young girl's hand grabbed hers and squeezed tenderly, "Yes, he does. I know it"

There was no reply from Maggie, as deep down in the depths of her perplexed soul she knew what little Katherine said, was somehow true. The next few nights, perhaps weeks was going to reveal to her all the happy memories she had with her father as a child, before they were separated.

It was going to be hard to ignore the fact that very soon her opinion of him was going to change…

**x x x**

_**Two months later**_

_**11**__**th**__** February 2000**_

As she pressed the red end call button on her cellphone Maggie couldn't help but smile in reprieve, feeling elated that things were back to normal in Springwood. Well, as normal as it could be. Just like Paul Robertson had said two months before they had now got the 'situation' under control. There were no more admittances to Westin Hills and no more deaths. When she had spoken to him on the phone he had explained that no one has had a dream or nightmare since they first spoke back in December. Their plan was working, it was over.

_He_ was gone.

Her hands gripped the Springwood Gazette that was sprawled on her lap and folded it neatly, then placed it on her side dresser. Her bobbed hair had now grown a few inches longer than usual and to her surprise she liked it that way. She suited it longer. The odd time she looked in the mirror with her hair this length she would see little Katherine staring back at her.

Her eyes glanced at her watch that read 10.35pm. It was time for bed and bizarrely she looked forward going to sleep at night now.

Each night for the last several weeks she was visited by Katherine who would show her another sweet and tender memory of her and her father. There were memories like, when she took her first baby steps towards him, the first time she muttered 'dada', their frequent visits to the park where he would push her on the swings, help her swing across the monkey bars, watching as she slid down the shiny silver slides. Pushing her across the lush green grass on her bright red tricycle. The special treats when he brought her to the Diner in the mall to share an ice cream sundae or to buy her that new doll she wanted. The endless nights when he told her bedtime stories, ghost stories and how she would constantly draw pictures of their little family and their house on Elm Street.

The most precious memories she relished seeing was their times spent in the backyard, playing hide and seek, tag, sprinkling her with water from the garden hose and her merry shrieks of laughter as he did so. Soaking her brown locks and yellow summer dress.

There were times at Christmas when she was shown how they used to sit and watch Christmas movies, sitting beside each other on the living room floor as he helped her play with her new dolls and toys.

Every single memory it showed how happy she was, how blissful and safe he made her felt. She was ever so glad that she was finally getting them back. It made her realised that he was right, he DID love her. He was a _good_ father to her. She was his little girl, his special girl and that was all that mattered to her. The feeling of hatred that had consumed her for the last few months was starting to dissipate and feelings of compassion towards him was starting to burn inside of her. These recollections of her past with him was starting to change her mindset towards him and she didn't care, she welcomed it.

Then why did she feel uneasy when she thought about him? If she ever did go back to that town, and if he somehow managed to creep back into dreams, then he would kill her within an instance! She didn't want to die, it wasn't her time. Just like it wasn't her mother's time when he brutally murdered her in front of her. That was something she would never forgive him for, no matter what. Why could he not give her a chance?

Maggie growled softly and clenched her fists together in fury. There would always be a part of her that would _hate _him for what he did to her mother, until the day she died.

Maggie shook her head and leaned back onto her soft pillow and allowed her eyes to flutter shut as sleep consumed her.

The room grew dark, the bed morphing as her body now lay flat on dark grey sofa in the middle of a spacious living room. Her body was gently shaken awake and her eyes snapped opened to stare into a familiar angelic face.

Katherine.

She pushed herself up into a sitting position and smiled at the little girl who stood before her. For once her attire did not match hers, she was dressed in the pink dress with her hair tied back in those red ribbons. Maggie cast a quick glance to her right to the kitchen window and saw that it was still bright outside, "What's going on?"

"I've to show you what happened after mommy got her medicine!" she shifted on her feet apprehensively.

Maggie grew troubled at this, "What happened? Did he do anything to you?"

Katherine reached out with her right hand and the moment her fingers touched Maggie's right cheek, a tingling sensation swept over. Then an intense white light flooded the room..

_Flash back…_

_Katherine sat on the far end of the sofa, her body shook as she waited for her father to appear. Droplets of tears trickled down her face as the image of her father choking her mother flickered before her. It kept repeating over and over._

_She knew she had to tell someone. _

_Anyone!_

_She saw a figure sit next to her and slowly twisted her terrified gaze toward her father as he took her onto his lap. Her head tilted upwards to face him as she began, "Why…?"_

_But her mouth quickly clamped shut. _

_"You want to know why daddy did what he did?" her father concluded for her._

_She nodded and looked up at him as he answered, "Well, as you know that I have a special room that nobody is allowed into except for me. But your mother was __**naughty**__. She disobeyed me and sneaked into my room. That made me angry and I had to punish her, so she had to be given her medicine for being a bad girl"_

_Katherine nodded slowly, acknowledging his answer and continued to listen as he started off again, "But it's going to be our secret. And you know what happens when people make a secret?"_

_"They don't tell anyone it," she whispered._

_Freddy smirked, nodding, "Yes princess, that's right. So, you're going to keep daddy's secret? Yes?"_

_Katherine gave a small nodded and replied a little hesitantly, "Yes"_

_He smirked and carried her in his arms up to her room.._

Another dazzling white light enveloped the room and the scene soon changed to a large, bright classroom…

_Katherine hummed quietly to herself as she painted in her drawing, her paint brush gripped tightly in her right hand as she trailed the bristles of the brush over the page. It slowly painted in a large bright sun. A pleased grin was etched across her face and she soon pulled her gaze upwards as her Kindergarten teacher Miss Ferguson approached her and knelt at her side. Her bright green eyes glanced at the girl's painting then to her._

"_Hi, miss!" she chirped._

"_Hi, Katherine. What are you drawing?" Miss Ferguson gave a warm smile._

_Katherine glanced at her picture then back to her teacher, "Me, daddy and mommy"_

_Miss Ferguson nodded, "Katherine, I noticed that your daddy has brought you to school this week. Where's your mommy? Is she sick?"_

_A shiver went up the young girl's spine. It was the first time her teacher or anyone had asked her about her mother. The past week since her mother was given her 'medicine' she had been plagued by the memory of that day. Every time she closed her eyes, it would resurface in her nightmares. It was going to consume her, haunt her unless she told someone. She couldn't lie to her teacher, could she?_

_Her lips parted slowly as she whispered, "My mommy is away"_

_Miss Ferguson grew nervous, "What do you mean away, sweetheart?"_

_Katherine couldn't keep it secret for much longer. It was eating her up inside. "Daddy gave her, her medicine. For sneaking into his special room. She was naughty and so he punished her" her face held a haunted look, "Now, mommy is away" _

_The colour drained on her teacher's face as she gave a meek nod. Without uttering a word she rose to her feet and walked towards the door of the classroom…_

The classroom faded out and in its place was Katherine's bedroom…

_Katherine stifled a yawn as Freddy leaned down to kiss her softly on the forehead, having finished reading her bedtime story. Sleeping Beauty. It had been the day before when she had told her teacher how her mother had 'gone away'. She was silently hoping that Miss Ferguson wouldn't tell anyone the secret she told her. If her father found out then he would be so mad at her. But she couldn't lie to her teacher, could she? Her parents always told her that lying was bad. That it wasn't polite to lie to anyone. Perhaps nothing would happen, maybe she would forget it and then those bad dreams would stop. _

_There was a sudden frantic rapping at the front door, making her father stand abruptly to his feet. He hushed her as she sat up in bed and quickly left the room. It was after a few minutes when she heard a set of footsteps approach her bedroom and then she saw a strange, dark haired woman enter. Dressed in what appeared to be police clothing. _

_Katherine whimpered as the woman advanced towards her and reassured, "Hi, Katherine. Don't worry, everything's going to be okay!"_

_Her body trembled as the woman took her in her arms and carried her down the stairs. Katherine looked down the stairs and saw her father arguing with a male police officer, his face scowling in rage. "I haven't done anything!"_

_As the police woman stepped off the last step, Katherine flung herself at her father, "Daddy!"_

_He instantly spun around to her and grabbed her out of the woman's hands, her little arms gripping around his neck. A pair of lips kissed her right cheek gently, "It's okay princess, they're not taking you anywhere"_

_Soft sobs came from her as she stared solemnly into his eyes, "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to tell daddy. But you said not to lie to people. Don't let them take me! Please don't be angry at me, I'm sorry! I really AM! I want to stay with **you**!"_

"_I'm afraid you can't Katherine" the female officer declared, "Now, say goodbye to your daddy"_

_Katherine shook her head and buried her head against his chest, "No. I want to stay with my daddy!"_

_Freddy seethed and glowered at the police officers with disdain, his hand rubbing his daughter's back lightly, "You have NO right to take my daughter away from ME!"_

_The female officer stepped forward, "We have legal authority to take Katherine"_

_More sobs fluttered from Katherine and she cried out in despair as she was forcefully pried out of his arms, "NO!"_

_Two sturdy male police officers grabbed Freddy and roughly shoved him out of the house, handcuffing his hands behind his back as they did so. His head whipped around towards Katherine as she screamed and thrashed in the woman's arms, her eyes pleading with him to forgive her for breaking their promise. "I didn't meantto tell! Please forgive me daddy! I'm SORRY!"_

_His eyes softened in sorrow, he couldn't stay angry at her. "I'll get you back Katherine. I mean it! I love you, princess! I always will!"_

_Katherine screamed and sobbed as she was carried over to a beige car, her hands clawing at the woman's arm as she pushed her into the back seats. "NO1"_

_She banged on the back window repeatedly her eyes staring over at her father as he was jostled into the back of a police car, what had she done? She had destroyed their family, betrayed him? Why? And for what? It wasn't meant to be this way, how could she be so stupid? Now, she would never see him again and it was all her fault! She was tugged back into her seat and flinched away from the police officer who sat at her side. Her hands pulled her legs up onto the seat and she rocked back and forth, consumed in tears and grief. _

_Her life would never be the same without him.  
__End flashback..._

Maggie wiped at the tears that escaped her eyes, as collapsed onto her knees in the front lawn of the depilated old Elm Street house. Pushing herself to her feet she charged into the house and straight toward the row of black and white photos that rested on the mantle-piece in the living room. Her hands shook as she lifted a photo of her and her father. Her hair was tied in ribbons as she gave a cheesy grin to the camera, her little body resting on his lap as he gave a warm grin. Backing away form the mantelpiece she slowly sat on the worn, dusty sofa and stared sombrely at the picture of them both.

Soon, she felt herself become overcome with tears once more. Why was she acting like this? Her body tensed as she felt a small set of arms curl around her neck, as a head rested against her shoulder. As though someone was comforting her. Her eyes blinked as she saw that little Katherine was hugging her.

The little girl stated grimly against her shoulder, "I was stupid, I should never had said anything. It's all my fault!"

Maggie gently eased back into the sofa and gently brushed away the tears from Katherine's flushed face, "It's okay, we weren't to know. We did what we thought was best"

"But they took us from daddy! I broke my promise! I was bad! I was a bad girl!" Katherine sniffled.

What could Maggie say? She felt those same feelings, felt the heartache that Katherine had. But they weren't as powerful as Katherine's. Her jaw dropped open in awe as the apparition of Katherine began to form into a thin white mist and soared into her own body, merging together. Their thoughts and emotions becoming one and soon Maggie was overcome with frantic desolate sobs as she felt the same strong _guilt_ that Katherine had. It over powering her, the shame of breaking her promise, betraying her father.

He had every right to be angry with her.

And now she was starting to accept what she did was _wrong_.

**x x x**

**Author's Note:** The scene where Freddy and Kat are playing in the back garden is linked to a one shot story I have on here! :)


	7. Victims

**Author's Note: **There will be one last chapter after this - I want to finish this before I start on the sequel to I Won't Tell. Though that may not be posted until the 2nd week of July as I will be away for a week on the 29th June**.**

I hope you see the difference in Maggie in this as her mind-set has changed.  
Reviews make me happy! :)

**Chapter 7: **Victims

_**Three weeks later…**_

Maggie's lips curled into a pleased smile as she woke from her slumber. Yet again her dream was reminiscing about another lost childhood memory. Every night over the last three weeks were the same, reliving a memory of him and her together. She didn't realise there were so many touching, tender moments they shared.

Now, she felt herself slowly starting to change. The odd time whenever someone called her name 'Maggie' she would find herself ignoring them, looking about to see WHO they were talking to It was as though she forgot that she owned that name.

But deep down she was beginning to see herself as Katherine.

Katherine Krueger.

On the odd occasion whenever she was signing for a recorded delivered or making out a cheque, she would find herself writing down the name '_Katherine Krueger' _and then she would hastily apologise before scribbling it out and signing 'Maggie Burroughs' - albeit a little hesitantly. It was as though she was becoming torn, as to she was. Her real identity.

For the last thirty years she had seen herself as Maggie Burroughs. But in her heart she knew that she was Krueger and soon she knew her mind was going to accept this. Those memories were playing a bit part in getting her mindset to change in regards to her identity. If she was being totally honest with herself, she was thoroughly enjoying reliving all those playful and joyful childhood memories with her father.

For the first time in a good few years, perhaps _more_, she was finally happy with herself. There was times before she found out that she was adopted, that she would think that she wasn't really Maggie. It was always this little _voice_ that would tell her that she wasn't Maggie and now she knew it was little Katherine's voice, she was with her all along throughout the her whole life since living in Central City.

She raised her arms above her head, stretching them high as she tried to shake herself awake. Every morning was the same, she felt groggy as though she wanted to go back to sleep. The odd time she found herself drifting off to sleep in her office at the shelter, as though she as developing necropsy. Hopefully not, as this was the last thing she wanted. Her sleeping patterns were back to normal and she didn't want anything to disturb them.

Maggie entered her kitchen and was about to make some coffee when her door was rapped. Frowning a little she trudged towards the door and pulled it opened slowly, staring at the beaming face of her adoptive mother. Sarah.

"Good morning, sweetheart!" she chirped.

Stepping to the side Maggie allowed her to enter, "What are you doing here? It's Sunday and it's 10am! Is this not normally your day for going golfing?"

"Yes it is" she smiled and then interlinked her arm with Maggie's, leading her into the kitchen, "But I wanted to spend this day with you!"

"Why? What' so special about today?" Maggie threw her a inquisitive look

"Oh, Margaret, don't tell me you forgot? It's your birthday! 2nd of March!"

Maggie's lips pulled back into a bright grin as she laughed, "Actually, I did!"

Sarah gave a small shake of her head, "I told you, all them longs nights are making you forget things. You are working too hard"

"Listen" she placed a cool hand on Sarah's shoulder, "don't worry about me, mother. I'll just have a nice lazy day, watch some movies"

She gawked in dismay, "Movies? Oh, no, no! I'm taking you out Margaret. We'll go shopping and then we'll have a nice lunch" her hands gently pushed her towards her bedroom, "Now, go on get ready and I'll make you some breakfast!"

Knowing that there was no use in arguing with her mother Maggie gave a mock salute and entered her bedroom, "Yes ma'am"

_**Three hours later..**_

Two wine glasses filled with rose wine were raised as Sarah made a small toast to Maggie, "Happy Birthday to my wonderful daughter, Margaret"

_Clink! _

The two glasses lightly tapped each other as Maggie smirked. Her free hand tucked a strand of her long brown hair behind her left ear, "Thanks, another year older. Another wrinkle on my face"

Her mother sipped her wine and shook her head, "38 isn't old dear, anyway you look like you're still in your early thirties"

"That's the miracle of beauty creams!" Maggie teased and then looked around at the restaurant once more, still awestruck by the surroundings of the newly opened Deane's Restaurant.

Pristine white linen clothes were draped over the numerous circular and rectangular tables. A huge black piano was placed in the far right corner of the room just when you came into the restaurant. There were several large marble pillars strategically placed in the room, an opened fire to the far left of the room and two large mahogany book cases were at either side. Large decorative paintings were attached to the walls and two large oval windows looked out on the main street, that was just recently renovated with new designer shops, jewellery stores, restaurants and fancy bistros. Maggie had very rarely frequented this part of the City, it was for citizens who had money and plenty of it. She knew that her mother was very good with her finances, but this was a little too much.

"Mother, this is way too much" her eyes dropped to the wine list, "I mean, look 45 dollars a bottle of wine and that is the cheapest! We could have easily went to Temple Restaurant, you know that I like that restaurant"

"Sweetheart, I don't mind at all. I wanted to treat you" she reached over and grasped her hand gently, "Anyways, it's a way for me to apologise to you too"

"Apologise?" she sipped her wine, savouring the fruity taste, "What do you mean apologise?"

"For not telling you that you were adopted"

Her mood suddenly turned sour, "It's okay, you don't need to be sorry. I told you, I'm okay with it now"

Sarah smiled softly, "Are you sure? You haven't spoken to me about it since September"

"I told you, I've moved on!" Maggie felt herself become slightly agitated.

"My offer still stands. I could help you find out who they are. Maybe we could meet up with them"

Her eyes widened in terror at this, "No! I don't want to, okay? Please just drop it!"

Leaning back in her chair Sarah nodded grimly. A few minutes went by until a waiter came to carry away their empty plates of food. Taking another drink of the wine, Sarah then poured out the rest evenly between them both and then broke the awkward silence, "How are things at the shelter?"

Maggie forced a smile, "It's good, I know that you don't like me working there. But I enjoy helping the kids"

"Mmm" her mother mused, "It still doesn't leave you with enough time to find someone"

A laugh of disbelief came from Maggie. "Mom, I told you, I'll find someone when the time is right. Or well, he'll find me"

"But when?" Sarah retorted, "You hardly have any time to yourself. You work, how many days? Five, sometimes six days a week? And any days you have off you are constantly working on your cases, researching therapy techniques Or even hiding away in your apartment!"

"And so what if I like to spend time on my own?" she glared, "I'm a very private person"

"Pfft!" Sarah scoffed. "You won't find someone if you don't socialise more. What about that man Paul? Paul Robertson? He was a nice man. He used to work with you at the Shelter?"

"Yes, I did like him, but he's in a new town now. Has a new job. He's happy in his new job" she sighed, "Don't fret about me not being in a relationship. It doesn't mean I'm not happy or anything, okay?"

Her mother nodded.

Maggie grabbed the desert menu and flashed a greedy smile, "So, what do you want for desert? Chocolate fudge cake or cheesecake?"

Her mother returned her smiled and chirped, "Cheesecake of course"

**x x x**

She knew that the other bottle of wine was a very bad idea. Maggie was definitely going to have a hangover in work in the morning. It was just past 9pm when she finally climbed into her bed. Her whole body was plagued with fatigue. For the first time in a few weeks she had thought of opening that box that held her father's belongings. Perhaps she as in such a drunken state that she was thinking this way. Drink makes you think more. Well, it did for her.

The moment her head hit the cold pillow, she felt a tug on her eyelids and with a drunken sigh she allowed herself to drift to sleep….

Maggie's eyes fluttered opened. Her lips curled into a scowl of puzzlement as she now stood on the top of a darkened landing. She slowly did a full turn and saw that it definitely wasn't her old home on 1428 Elm Street. Her brown eyes lowered to the left as she saw a staircase leading to the floor below. Moving toward it, she was about to step down when a figure at the far end of the landing in front of a bedroom caught her attention.

She smiled in surprise, "Katherine? What are you doing here? Where are we?"

The little girl stared hauntingly at her and then turned to her left, entering the bedroom as the door creaked opened for her of it's own accord. Maggie felt drawn by whatever as inside the room and slowly walked towards the doorway. Her eyes squinted as she strained to see inside the dimly lit room. Her little 'spirit' of her lost childhood was nowhere to be found.

Stepping further into the room she felt her heart picked up speed as her eyes fell upon a large double bed, with two sleeping figures snuggled under the blankets. The moonlight shone through the large window to the left, shedding some light on the two figures. There was a girl with short blond cropped hair and a boy with jet black hair, they seemed to be both in her mid to late teens. To the right of the bed was a small side dresser with a small oval lamp and tucked to the far right was a small wardrobe.

As if entranced Maggie moved along the bottom of the bed and stood at the window, staring silently at the two sleeping bodies. They looked so peaceful, so still. Why the hell was she here? What was the purpose of this dream?

Not wanting to find out why she was here, she turned to leave the room. But the door was now closed, she snarled and charged over and twisted and turned the handle. It was futile, it was locked. She was lured in here to watch whatever was gong to happen and the gut feeling she had somehow told her it wasn't going to be pleasant to watch.

There was a small whimper, a cry of despair. Maggie gritted her teeth and spun around to face the bed, taking a few steps to the left and then one forward towards the edge of the bed. Her eyes widened, breath hitching in her throat as the blond haired girl vehemently began to thrash and struggle beneath the bed clothes. Her arms flayed wildly at her sides as she let out a powerful scream. Narrowing her eyes Maggie noticed that there seemed to be _another_ figure under the sheets with her and it wasn't just the boy laying beside her.

The boy suddenly jolted awake from his slumber and stumbled out of his bed. He looked confused as he turned towards the bed to see his girlfriend struggling underneath the sheets, her screams echoing throughout the bedroom. His hands shook as he reached out to grab the bedclothes and yanked them away. "Tina?!"

Maggie gasped as she saw the girl Tina twisting and scuffling against an invisible assailant. In a flash her white shirt was ripped apart, her skin was savagely torn apart as four long lacerations were slashed down her chest and stomach. Deep crimson blood spilled over her decimated flesh and she squealed in anguish.

A scream tore from Maggie's throat as she jolted back against the wall, her hands whipped up to cover her trembling lips. She knew it, it was one of her father's victims. She was witnessing their death.

The girl Tina screamed once more as the invisible 'attacker' lifted her bloodied body off the bed. Her voice called out, "ROD!"

Rod hurried forward towards her, but her body was swung around hitting him and sending him tumbling backwards into the wall. He screamed out again as he saw her body being flung like she was a rag doll into the far corner of the room.

Maggie let her hands fall to her sides were they grabbed the edge of her blue pyjama top. She shook her head in horror as she saw the outline of a shadow, a figure of a man standing on the wall. On top of their head was a fedora hat, she could just about make it out. Tina's body was then trailed along the side of the wall by her wrists along the side of the wall, her crimson blood oozing from her torn flesh along the wallpaper.

"ROD!"

Maggie flinched at the sound of her thunderous screams. It was terrifying. Her eyes shot toward her right where she saw Rod sat huddled in the corner, sobbing uncontrollably as he raised his right hand out trying to reach for her as her body was hauled along the ceiling, some powerful force pinning her body to the ceiling. She weakly reached out to him, still screaming

There was a low maniacal laugh that made Maggie turn her face back towards the girl, and that was when she saw him. Her father. In all his horrific sadistic glory. His left scarred burned hand was wrapped around Tina's left wrist and then with a twist of his claw he girl was unpinned from the wall and he let go of her wrist and watched with a dark sickening grin as she fell onto the bed, her bare flesh connecting with the mattress that was smeared in own blood. A spray of blood splashed over Rod's chest.

Maggie shrieked as she frantically wiped at blood that was also splattered onto her own face. Clamping her eyes shut she spun away and prayed that she was going to wake up. But instead a tingling sensation from the base of her spine swept over her and she as she opened her eyes she found herself in new surroundings.

Thick grey bars surrounded her to the front, left and right. She was in a holding cell. Twisting around she saw another cell next to hers and a boy sleeping on the small bed.

"My god, it's that boy" she whispered.

It was Rod.

She slowly stepped forward until she was at the bars and curled her shaking hands around two of them, and looked down at him as he slept. There was a step of footsteps coming from the main corridor leading to the holding cells and the large heavy door creaked opened. Maggie lifted her gaze and her jaw dropped in trepidation, as in stepped in her monstrous father. He calmly walked towards Rod's cell and walked right through the bars as though they weren't there.

Maggie instinctively stepped back, she knew that it was all a flashback she was witnessing. He wasn't interacting with her. But she didn't want to be anywhere near him, in case this was all a trick and that he was back in her dreams.

She watched as he loomed over the sleeping boy and reached down with his un-clawed right hand to grab a fistful of the blankets. His charred lips curled into a fiendish grin as he twisted his head to the left and leered up at a figure staring down at him from the window above.

Maggie also looked up and saw a young girl staring down in terror through the bars, her brunette wavy hair hung around her face. In a blink both the girl and her father disappeared. Confusion was etched on Maggie's face as she took a small step towards the bars and then she saw the bed sheets begin to move. Twisting and turning into what looked like a rope of some sorts. It then snaked slowly up the body's sleeping frame, curling around his neck and tightened around his flesh as his eyes napped opened in surprise.

He frantically tried to pull and tug at the roped shaped blanket.

Maggie shook her head and quickly reached in between the bars for his legs to pull him back, but her fingers missed as he was jerked forward up the bed and against the wall. The end of the blanket slithered up to the bars above in the window and tied into a thick, tight knot. Then suddenly in a stomach-churning crack, the boy's neck broke. His eyes rolling into the back of his eyes.

Again the prickling sensation returned in the base of Maggie's spine and her vision blurred, black and grey colours merging together until they faded away until she found herself in a teenaged boy's bedroom. Dotted on the walls were pictures of half-naked women, football stars. Her eyes lowered to a single bed as a brown haired teenaged boy, perhaps sixteen or seventeen lay sprawled out. A small portable TV was on his lap, a set of earphones were on his head. A cream football shirt adorned his slim athletic frame along with a pair of dark navy jogging bottoms. She slowly inched towards the bed and then froze in terror as a bladed claw and burnt hand snaked out from beneath the sleeping boy's frame and clamped down around his slender frame. The teenager screamed, his eyes shooting open as he frantically tried d to grasp the edge of the bed with his hands. The mattress beneath him sagged as a dark black hole devoured him, the bladed claw wrapping around his waist and tugged her further into the chasm. His voice echoed throughout the room, "MAMA!"

Shaking her head in despair Maggie saw the boy being fully submerged into the black hole and then for a few seconds she could faintly hear the boy's torturous moans of pain and the sound of skin being torn apart. Taking a slow step backwards she screamed as a torrent of blood and body tissue spurted out of the black hole, like a water spouting from a fountain. The blood splattered against the ceiling and dribbled across the white ceiling staining it a dark red. It then began to rain down on the room and onto her head as she screamed in disgust and raised her hands to cover her hair….

Her brown eyes snapped opened as she jerked awake in her bed, safe in the confines of her apartment. She glanced down at her chest seeing it was rising and falling at a frantic pace. The sound of her heart thumping in her ears was the only sound she could make out. Taking a long deep breath she tried to regulate her breathing and soon it evened out until she was breathing normally.

With shaking hands she threw her bed clothes off of her and switched on the light on the side dresser. The images of those poor teenagers faces flashed before her eyes. As if hypnotized she walked over to the built in wardrobe and flung opened the doors, her gaze lifting up to the top shelf and she carried over the large scrapbook she had brought back from Springwood to her bed. Most of the news paper articles were of her father's victims when he was alive, but she had this gut instinct that the last page or two were linked to the nightmares or visions she had witnessed moments earlier.

When she came to the 2nd last page her heart dropped into the pits of her stomach, the newspaper article glared up at her.

_**TEENAGED GIRL MURDERED.**_

The date was 25th March 1980

She read the opening paragraph to herself.

'_Fifteen year old Christina Grey was viciously murdered in her own home. The suspect is her seventeen year old boyfriend Rod Lane. He had fled the scene after her body was found by her friends, fifteen year old Nancy Thompson and her boyfriend 16 year old Glen Lantz. The four teenagers were having a sleepover'_

Maggie gulped and looked down to the next article.

_**MURDER SUSPECT COMMITS SUICICDE**_

The date was two days later. Her eyes began to well with tears as she read the first few sentences.

'_The suspect in the murder of Christina Grey has been found dead in his prison cell in Springwood police department. Rod Lane had hung himself with the bed sheets….'_

Maggie sobbed silently as she turned the next page and saw a small article about the girl who she had seen in at the window, frenetically trying to get that boy Rod Lane to wake up.

_**Thompson Girl Admitted to Psychiatric Hospital**_

_Fifteen year old Nancy Thompson, daughter of local Sheriff Donald Thompson has admitted to a psychiatric hospital. According to sources, she had a psychological breakdown after claming to believe that dead child killer Fred Krueger had killed her three friends, Christina Grey, Rod Lane and Glen Lantz in their sleep. She also claims that the dead serial killer also her mother Marge Thompson. Fred Krueger, also known as the Springwood Slasher has been dead since 1968...'_

Maggie looked at the four small photos beneath the article, seeing the four people in question - Christina Grey, Rod Lane, Glen Lantz and Marge Thompson. Then just next to the article was a small coloured photograph of the girl Nancy.

She chewed her bottom lip and closed the book. Was she going to see more of these visions, these nightmares that her father's victims had?

Her eyes slowly flickered shut as she hung her head and sobbed. Grieving for those teenagers. Of course she was going to bare witness to more of those brutal and sadistic nightmares, and she knew that she couldn't do anything about it…

_**Three years later….**_

_**Monday 18**__**th**__** August 2003 9.40am**_

Maggie screamed as she jolted up in her bed, her body shook as she clamped her eyes shut. For a brief moment the revolting image of that poor girl's decapitated corpse flickered before her. Her piercing screams chilled her to the bone.

The last three years had been the most horrific she had ever experienced. For each night Maggie would be plagued and tormented by at least two to three deaths, the deaths of her father's victims as he stalked and mutilated them in their dreams. It disgusted her how he would twist and manipulated their dreams, finding out their most darkest fears and using it against them. Then he would feast on their souls, gaining more strength. She knew he was one cruel and sinful monster when she met him after all those long years of being apart, but when she saw each of those deaths. Well, he was a hundred times worse than she ever imagined. It pained her to know that she was his daughter.

How many deaths had she witnessed? Hundreds? No, it was a few thousand deaths. The whole fucking youth population of that town. From when he began to invade that boy Jessie Walsh dreams, using his body for his own evil gains. Possessing him in order to kill those people.

Then how he systematically killed all the remaining Elm Street children - and ultimately his greatest foe, Nancy Thompson. Maggie felt drawn to the girl, she was strong, determined and courageous. No wonder her father hated the girl's guts, she stood up to him when others didn't.

She idly wiped away a stray tear as she thought of how he then went after all the other children in Springwood, at first using Alice Johnson and then her unborn child to get to his victims. But it seemed that he was able to get into any dreams he wanted without them. She never witnessed their deaths, so were they still alive? They must have moved from Springwood.

A few images of young children came to her and she sagged sadly against the headboard. They were so young, some of his victims were only a few days old. Age didn't mean a thing to him, just like he proudly stated to her…

'_They took you away from me. But I MADE them pay! I took all their children away from them…'_

And he was fucking right. She had seen them all die, young babies, little toddlers, young children. Boys, girls. Their happy smiling faces decimated and mutilated by his claws. She even saw the twisted, malicious grin on his charred features as he murdered them. He was getting his vengeance on the town for what they did to him, for taking HER away from him when she was just five years old.

If having those nightmares weren't enough over the last three years, two other events in her life had also occurred. Back in June 2002 her adoptive mother Sarah had a heart attack and passed away. It was all too sudden and for a few months afterwards Maggie had taken time off work, trying to straighten her head out. She had thought she did when she went back to work in late August 2002. But she was only fooling herself, she wasn't fully over her Sarah's death.

Even now she felt lonely, isolated. Even Doc had left Central City in March 2002. His new life was now in Washington DC, working tirelessly as a Dream Therapist in a highly respected Sleeping Disorder Clinic. He even suggested that she could come with him. But she declined his offer, she didn't belong there.

Now, at this very moment she knew that she didn't belong in Central City either.

Another important event was the closure of the Youth Shelter at the start of the year. She had somehow managed to save up quite a substantial amount of money to live off, also the fact that Sarah had left her a huge sum of money too also was helping matters. It had crossed her mind to move back to her adoptive home on Mill Valley Lane. But she had continued to live in her apartment and had kept the house as capital. It would be useful for her when the time was right to make her move. She knew that day was coming soon.

Lifting her head from the headboard she sluggishly threw the bedclothes off of her and went to side at her dresser where she had a large black binding folder. A white sticky label was on the front of the folder that read.

VICTIMS.

Her hands opened the folder and inside were numerous A4 pages with lines of names, ages and dates. Each page was placed inside a plastic cover keeping it smooth and clean. She sullenly scanned each name, knowing them too well. Remembering their faces. Every time she woke from her nightmares she would write down their name, their age and the date of their death. Somehow she knew who these children were. Each time she grew more guilty, more ashamed of what had happened to them. The remorse was eating away at her conscious and she didn't know why.

Her pale hands turned the pages over until she came to the last one and she pulled it from the plastic cover, and began to write down the last name at the very bottom of the page.

Carrie Summers. Aged 16. Died 1st September 1999

Maggie's lips curled into a frown of recognition, it was only a few weeks later when the John Doe appeared in the Shelter. Did he know this girl? Were they friends? She never really knew who he was. Would she dream of his death again? Was she going to witness Spencer's death again and then see how Carlos really died?

"His name was Shaun"

She swirled round in her seat to face little Katherine as she sat on the edge of the bed. A smile graced Maggie's lips as she asked, "What? How did you know that?"

Little Katherine shrugged, "I just do. His real name was Shaun Stevenson"

Maggie nodded and then lightly patted her lap, making the girl grin as she scurried over and onto it. "I haven't seen you in over three years" Maggie gently stroked her younger self's hair, "Why did you not show yourself to me?"

"I wasn't allowed to"

"Oh, okay" she nodded silently, "Then why did you show me these nightmares of the children that father had murdered?"

Katherine shook her head in discord, "I didn't show them to you! Daddy did!"

"How? He isn't here!" she looked nervously about the room.

"He gave them to you…his memories" Katherine twisted around so that her legs were draped over Maggie's own legs.

It then dawned on Maggie. "When I brought him back to Springwood, he shared his memories with me?"

"Yes" she nodded eagerly, "He wants us to know what we did!"

"What we did?" Maggie grew confused, "We didn't do anything!"

"We had a part to play in their deaths"

Maggie nodded, "Because we told on him"

"Yes"

It was all becoming clear now, why she was feeling so guilty. The very moment she told her teacher that her mother had gone 'away' she had set in motion a series of dark events that would define Springwood's future. Paving way for the nightmares and death that would consume the town. From her father being arrested, her being taken away. How he was set free from the court, then savagely hunted down and burned by the parents. Then she was adopted and taken away from Springwood. Then years later the nightmares began. She had a part to play in it all, all those teenagers and children's deaths were in some twisted way caused by her too. If she had kept her mouth shut when she as five years old, how would things have been? How much more different would her life have turned out?

She sighed and then lowered her gaze to the little girl on her lap, "Listen, I want to show you something" her right hand pulled over her black purse from the dresser, "Remember you said that I'm Katherine, only grown up?"

"Yeah"

Her fingers pulled out a small white driving licence and she presented it to her, "I've changed my name on my licence. See, it says Katherine Krueger"

Katherine smiled excitedly, "Really? You don't call yourself Maggie anymore?"

"No, I only used the name Maggie Burroughs when I was working. I changed my name legally nearly a year ago" she returned the girl's bright smile, "I know who I really am now. It's taken me a few years to accept it, but I guess I've always known that I wasn't her. I was never Maggie"

"That's great" the young girl squealed and hugged her tightly, "You're nearly ready to go home!"

"But he's not there anymore, there hasn't' been any deaths in nearly four years. He's gone"

Little Katherine's face held a disturbing look as she whispered, "Daddy's looking for someone"

"Looking for someone?" she swallowed thickly, "Who is it?"

"I don't know" she shook her head, "You don't work at the Shelter anymore, do you?"

"Yes, that's right"

"And that lady died? Sarah?"

Maggie gave a small curt nod. It unnerved her how she didn't think of Sarah as much as she should have. That woman had raised her from when she was about six or seven years of age and now that she had died last year, she didn't feel as grief-stricken over her death. She kept thinking of her real mother - Loretta Krueger. It was though she was more inclined to grieve over her real mother's death than Sarah's. "Yes" she finally replied, "Sarah passed away last year, 5th June 2002. She left me some money in her will and she gave me the house where I grew up in. I haven't sold it yet, I'm just waiting on the right time to do so"

"I know" Katherine grinned, "You want to sell it so you can use the money to go home"

"Yes" Maggie/Katherine laughed and then lightly poked the girl's nose with her finger, "You little mind reader you!"

The girl giggled and handed the driving licence back to her, before looking down at the countless names of the victims. "There's so many of them!"

Maggie/Katherine nodded dourly, "Yeah, over three thousand. I saw them all, all their deaths. All the dark and heartless ways he killed them. It's a miracle I haven't had a mental breakdown. My head is so messed up right now. I feel so guilty, so ashamed for telling on him now"

Katherine slowly curled her tiny hands around Maggie/Katherine's neck as she comforted her and in a flash Maggie had yet again absorbed the girl's apparition. Letting out a small sob she leaned forward and placed her head in her hands, pondering on what to do next. When was the time to go back there? She knew that she would eventually go back there, but the timing had to be right.

Her eyes slowly fluttered shut and then she heard a low shrill ringing sound…

Maggie groaned as she came to, the ringing tone becoming louder with each passing second. Cursing softly to herself she rolled over to grab her black cell phone and sneered in dismay at the name on the screen. It was Doc calling her. When was the last time they had spoken to each other? Perhaps March time? It had also been nearly two years since she last saw or spoke to Tracey, before the young girl left to go and live in Cleveland.

Now, she wasn't as close to them two as she previously was. People changed and she certainly had. To her she didn't' NEED them in her life anymore.

Her brown eyes glowered at the screen as he continued to let it ring and then it stopped. She threw the phone back onto the dresser and rolled onto her back. How many times had he rang her this week? Five, six times? And every time she wouldn't answer. It wasn't as though she hated him, there wasn't anything she had to say to him. How could she explain to him that she wasn't Maggie anymore? That she was Katherine Krueger. He would jump on the first plane back to Ohio and would want to know what was happening with her, why she was calling herself that name.

He wouldn't understand. No one could.

How could he understand the heartache she was feeling, the isolation and loneliness she felt? Central City wasn't her home anymore. It never was and would never be. She never realised how depressed she was until she found herself the other month, sitting alone in her kitchen holding that painting she drew in the Springwood Orphanage. Of her real family. Her body was engulfed in tears. All she wanted was to be with her real family, her father. Despite trying to kill her she missed him so much and she couldn't bare being apart from him for much longer. Perhaps that was fucked up, and just maybe she was screwed up in the head. But she didn't care.

She longed to be reunited with him, though she knew deep down inside it would ultimately end up in bloodshed. Her own blood.

And for some disturbing reason she was going to accept whatever punishment he had planned for her.


	8. Reunited

**Chapter 8: **Reunited

**_21st October 2003_**

Just like she expected, he was back. Since the end of August, Katherine had this sixth sense that something was going to happen in Springwood. And that it did. In the first week of September there was a spate of killings, one at her old house on Elm Street. A teenaged boy was hacked to death and in a gruesome move, the bed he was murdered on was folded in two, crushing his body. It had all his hallmarks. Then for at least three to four days after, more killings happened, some at Westin Hills and then out at Forest Green. An area that used to be a camping site and that was under renovation.

Also, during that time she had discovered there were two breakouts from Westin Hills, two teenagers. Will Rollins and Mark Davis. Both names she had recalled were linked to her father from four years before. The former being at 1428 Elm Street when Mrs Campbell had been killed and Mark Davis was the younger brother of Bobby Davis who supposedly had committed suicide in late 1999. But Katherine knew back then that it was her father who took that boy's poor life.

From what she read in the daily subscription of the Springwood Gazette she had set up, that there were two survivors. Lori Campbell and Will Rollins. But on the 1st October both their bodies were found mutilated in her bedroom in 1428 Elm Street. They thought they had stopped him, but they were wrong. Dead wrong. Under a week later, Lori's father had moved out of the house and put it up for sale. And that was when Katherine made her move. Immediately putting in a substantial offer to buy her old home.

She had bargained over the phone and by the 18th October she was told via a telephone call from the Property Link Estate Agents in the town that she was successful in purchasing the house. It was the quickest sale they had ever completed. And probably the cheapest sale they ever completed. $50,500. It was at the end of August that Katherine her sold her adoptive home in Central City for £95,000 and kept the proceeds from the sale in her savings account. Biding her time for the moment to go home.

It was only a matter of days before she would receive a phone call to say that she could move into her home at 1428 Elm Street. The sooner that phone call came, the better.

Katherine's brown eyes scoured the main street as she stared out through the window of her apartment. Cars whizzed by, people went to and fro. The fingers on her right hand drummed rhythmically on the windowsill. Her brown hair was draped down her back, stopping just below a third of the way down her back. She had allowed the layers of her hair to grow out, making it look a little thicker and more fuller.

She felt her left hand vibrate and she jerked her gaze down to her fingers that covered her small black cell-phone. Her lips pulled back into a pleased grin as she saw the number on the screen and then she pressed the answer button, "Hello?"

There was a few seconds of silence.

"Yes, this is she"

She walked across the living room toward her bedroom and then grinned, "That's great, thank you. Would you please send my condolences to Mr Campbell for the loss of his daughter?"

Her eyes darted towards her bed where a large black suitcase was opened, waiting to be filled with her clothes and any other items she would be bringing with her. "I'd love to move in straight away" she said with a smile, "Really? Next week would be brilliant! Is there much work to be done?"

Her heart fluttered against her chest, it wasn't long now. Only a matter of days!

"Good. I wouldn't need any removal vans. I'll use whatever furniture that Mr Campbell has left in the house" she placed her free on her slim waist, "I'll phone my bank straight away, my solicitor has all the particulars too, I think you have their number. Also, the other week I requested that the front door is repainted. Has that been done? It is a mustard colour, but I wanted it to be red"

She listened to the woman on the other end of the line for a few minutes and then sighed, "I understand what has happened in the house. It hasn't put me off buying it, I've my mind all set on buying it. Look, I appreciate your concern. Thank you again for everything. I'll be touch in a day or so about the transfer of the money" she grinned, "Goodbye"

Her fingers shakily pressed the end call button, was it due to being excited that she was finally going back there or was it because she was slightly apprehensive? Maybe it was a mixture of both. Nonetheless, it was her time to leave this City, this wasn't here home and it never was. She wasn't stupid, far from it. He was going to be waiting for her, biding his time until she fell asleep and god only knew what he was going to do to her. But she was going to accept her punishment, the culpability she felt for what she did to him and for all those children and teenagers deaths were weighing on her shoulders. Crushing her heart.

**x x x**

_**October 28**__**th**__** 2003**_

_**6.15pm…**_

A black clipboard was held out by a pair of strong hands, along with a silver parker pen. The dark haired man smiled anxiously, "If you could just sign here, Miss…?"

"Miss Katherine Krueger" the items were gently pried from his hand and with a small grin, Katherine signed her name at the bottom of the page. She glanced up at the estate agent who shifted wearily on his feet. She then looked past him at the house.

At last she was home, back in her rightful place. Her birth place. 1428 Elm Street. It had taken years, decades for her to return home. For good.

She should have never been taken away from this town, from this house. From him. It was all her fault and in her mind she was hoping that just maybe HE could forgive her. But then again, who was she kidding? Even now as she stood at the long narrow path that led to that red door, she could feel his presence lingering around her. Emanating from within those four walls. Wanting to devour her. Imprison her. And she was going to let it.

The house looked so pristine and clean. Like it was only built a few weeks ago. The green titles were now freshly painted, along with the white wooden walls of the exterior of the house. To her delight the door had been painted back to red. She knew inside the house had changed, having seen the pictures on the estate agent's website. The idea had crossed her mind to change a few things inside the house. Her old bedroom now had an en-suite and she had contemplated on having the en-suite removed. But she knew it would take a few weeks maybe more for it to be completed and well, she couldn't wait any longer.

Her lips curled into a happy grin as she handed the clipboard back to him as he nervously loosened his grey tie. He looked petrified being outside this house. "You're one brave woman" he commented.

She chuckled and took the small set of keys off of him and shoved them in her front jean pocket, "Why do you say that?"

"Well, you've just bought a house that in the last several weeks has had three murders occur inside" he looked over his shoulder at the house. He shivered, it was though the house loomed over them like a monster. "Supposedly, it's meant to be haunted"

Katherine chortled lightly and smirked, if only he knew. "Really? I think you're a little old to be listening to ghost stories!"

He glared at her, "Well, it's meant to be true"

She pursed her lips together and replied, "Well, I tend not to listen to gossip. Anyway, I knew a family who lived in this house. I'm a relative"

"Relative?" he looked up at the dark sky and in the distance they could both hear a deep rumble. A storm was heading their way. "I'll let you get uh, settled in. Good luck, you'll need it"

Her eyes followed him as he briskly made his way to his park navy car and within a matter of minutes, his car screeched as he drove away with haste. Katherine gave a small grin as she pulled out the set of keys and made a bee-line for her own maroon Honda Civic and popped open the boot. Her hands reached in to grab her small black suitcase and back pack. That was all the belongings brought with her, any remaining items she given to a local charity shop in Central City before leaving earlier that morning.

She slammed the boot closed and hooked the strap of her backpack over her right, griping her suitcase in her right hand and leisurely strolled across the damp lawn to the red door of her home. A smile grew across her face as used her free hand to lightly trace the gold plated numbers - 1428. "I'm home. At last"

Her hand fell towards the silver handle and twisted it, then pushed it opened. A tingle shot up her spine as she crossed the threshold into the hallway and slowly closed the door behind her. She heard a small click from the lock and inquisitively tried opened the door. It was locked and now by her, by _him_.

Katherine chuckled to herself and turned to look at her home. It was so different form the last time she was here. New oak wooden floors were in the living room and TV room, the old frayed wallpaper was stripped and replaced by plain paper, painted in neutral creams and beige colours. It was plain, but pleasant. A cream sofa was in the TV room to her right and in the living room was a three and two seated sofas. There was a small cream mantelpiece across from the sofa. The whole place looked bare.

She instantly walked into the living room and placed the suitcase on the sofa, unzipping it to rummage through her clothes for three items - the newspaper article about her mother, Loretta. A cut out photo from one of the news papers -it clearly showed her father as he walked out of the Springwood Court House a free man and with a sly smirk on his face beneath his fedora. She got chills from just looking at it. The last item was something she had brought out of her dream three years before, the photo frame of her as she proudly sat on her father's lap.

Each item was placed on the fireplace and she stood back, and stared solemnly at each of them in turn. For the slightest second she swore that his eyes darted up towards her from the picture frame. There was no way he could interact with her, she wasn't asleep yet. It was just her mind playing tricks on her. Also, the fact that she hadn't slept in the last three nights was also a reason too. Was it her nerves that was causing her to stay up the last few nights? Well, she knew tonight the moment her head hit the pillow that sleep would consume her. Even now she felt her eyelids grow heavy with fatigue.

In the mirror she saw the basement door from behind gently ease open, then a rumble of thunder boomed from outside. She jerked around and made her way towards the basement and descended the wooden steps as a small light bulb flickered on from below. Instinctively she allowed her eyes to fall upon the area where her father's old 'room', but the doorway was no longer there. A thick concrete wall was in it's place. The basement was relatively empty, apart form a mop and bucket, and a few old cardboard boxes. At the bottom step she spun around and half expected to see him at the far end of the room waiting for her, just like she first dreamt of him four years ago. But she was alone.

_Scccreech…_

She let out a small shriek and lowered her alarmed gaze to a small black furnace a few feet down on her left. The metal door swayed back and forth, creating the sound of metal upon metal. Her teeth grounded together and she stepped forward to slam the door shut and pulled across the latch.

The two large wooden doors were flung opened as she climbed up the steps of the basement into the back yard. She felt a light drizzle fall upon her hair and quickly yanked up the hood on her grey zipped hoodie, then jadedly walked across the lawn. Her trainers crunching on the fallen brown and yellow leaves.

She slowed to a stop at the far end of the yard beside the white fence, staring sorrowfully at the area where she last saw her mother's body. Her face trembled as she felt a few tears roll down her face and soon she was in a barrage of tears. She couldn't control herself as her grief consumed her. That day would always haunt her.

Letting out a small sob she leaned her head back, allowing the rain to fall on her face and she then grimly turned back towards the house. Streaks of yellow lightening crackled across the black sky as she entered the basement once more and closed the doors behind her.

As she entered the kitchen she heard the small high pitched ringing tone of her cell-phone within her back pocket. She yanked it out and frowned at the caller ID. It was Doc. Again. But this time she was going to answer his call. She had to say goodbye to him, he deserved that at least.

She forced herself to sound congenial, "Hello?"

"Hello, Maggie?"

Her eyes narrowed in disdain at the sound of that name. She hated it now. "Hello, Alan"

"How are you?" he asked, "I've been trying to phone you the last week or so. I was visiting my brother and I came to your apartment this afternoon and your landlord said that you moved out this morning"

She nodded, "That's right"

"Where did you move to?" his voice was tight with worry, "I haven't spoken to you in months, you've haven't been answering my calls. Is everything okay Maggie?"

"Would you STOP calling me that name!" she snapped sharply, "That's not my name, that was _never_ my name!"

"What?" there was confusion in his voice.

"I've changed my name Doc" she smiled, "I'm not her"

This couldn't be true? He looked up at her apartment block back in Central City, then sighed. "You didn't change it to _that _name?"

"Yes" her smile went wider, "I changed it to my REAL name, my birth name. I'm Katherine Krueger"

"I don't understand"

Katherine scoffed and began to pace the kitchen in silently fury, "Of course you don't fucking understand! No one does!" she froze and took a calming deep breath, "Listen, I'm going to go here. There's something important I need to do"

"Where the hell are you?"

She could sense the panic rising in his voice, "I'm home Doc. I'm where I belong, back in Springwood"

"Don't tell me you went back to that house?"

"Yes, listen don't come here. It's not safe for you" her lips tugged downward into a small frown. She was actually going to miss him, he was always a good friend to her. "You take care of yourself, you hear me?"

He began to reply, but she cut him off. "Goodbye Doc"

Her fingers clawed away the back compartment of the phone and soon the battery and SIM card were yanked from inside, and into the small black bin in the corner of the kitchen. She didn't want anymore interruptions.

_**1 hour later…**_

Katherine stepped off the bottom step of the staircase having now changed into her nightclothes - plain pink silk pyjamas and matching nightgown. Her suitcase was now placed in her old bedroom.

For the last hour the thunder storm continued to rage outside, even causing the lights to flicker on and off, the electric threatening to go off at any second. Every time she heard the booming thunder she would inadvertently jump and then laugh at herself for being so jittery. Her nerves were definitely getting the better of her and she wasn't even asleep yet

She strolled into the kitchen were her large bottle of rose wine and wine glass s waiting of her, along with a small plastic white bottle of sleeping tablets. It was obvious that she probably wouldn't need them, but she wanted to make absolutely sure she fell asleep. The last thing she wanted was trying to fall asleep and winding up staying awake all night. It was her plan to get this over and done with tonight.

The wine though, would most certainly help her relax.

With a quick glance at the around the room she unscrewed the bottle and poured out the wine until it was a few millimetres form the top of the glass. Raising the rim of the glass to her dry lips, she took a good long gulp and then saw a that she had nearly drunk a third of it. Then she topped it up again and once more took another long refreshing gulp. Nearly downing the whole glass this time.

"_Mmm, seems you have a little drink problem, princess!"_

Katherine let out a small shriek and she dropped her glass in fright onto the counter. It shattered in several pieces as she spun around to the archway that lead to the living room. The voice came from the area near the fireplace, actually it came from the picture of her and her father. Her hands shook as she croaked out, "Where are you?"

"_I'm waiting for you, baby girl_" his hoarse, gritty voice cooed gruffly, "_You know where. All you have to do is close them beautiful eyes of yours, then you'll see me…"_

Her body quivered as she heard his maniacal laughter echo throughout the rooms and soon it faded away, leaving her still shivering. Fuck it, she wasn't leaving it for any longer. It was time to sleep, time to dream.

Again her eyes furrowed in disgruntlement as she advanced into her old bedroom. There was doorway to her left what lead to a new bathroom en-suite and there was a double bed directly facing her. It shouldn't be like that, it wasn't the way she remembered it. She so desperately wanted it to be the way it was when she was a little girl. Her chest of toys and dolls should be to her left against a wall, and there should be a single pink bed tucked in against the wall below the window. She smiled wryly to herself, never realising how fussy she was until now.

She quickly went to the window and drew the lilac curtains closed, and then slithered into the double bed with her nightgown still on and patted the small pocket on her gown lightly and felt the two pieces of paper that were inside. Her mouth parted as she grumbled, "Forgot the sleeping tablets"

"_You don't need them, sweetheart"_

Her eyes lifted towards the doorway and she saw the faint outline of his body, then as she blinked it vanished. He was right, she didn't need them and as if to support this fact she felt her eyelids grow heavy and she smiled grimly as she allowed herself to fall asleep.

Thunder continued to roar from outside, and soon a childish giggle resonated throughout the bedroom as Katherine came to. Twisting around she pushed herself to a sitting position and grinned as she saw the room the way it should be. The light on the white dressing table was on and a child harmoniously hummed a nursery rhyme as they played on the floor with their dolls. It was her childhood apparition.

Rising to her feet Katherine grinned down at her as she turned to face her, "You're finally here" the little girl chirped, "He's waiting for you"

"I know" she nodded, "Thank you for helping me remember"

Katherine looked down at her feet and saw her black backpack and swiftly hooked it over her shoulder, and then left the room down towards the basement. She could feel his eye son her, watching her every step as she descended the wooden steps into the basement. Her brown eyes glanced momentarily at the secret room that was securely locked with a large silver padlock. Out of the corner of her eye down towards her left she saw a large thick black metal door embedded into the brick wall. Steam billowed out from around the hinges. It lead to the boiler room, to him. She knew that he wanted her to go through that door.

She gradually made her way towards it and licked her dry lips as it opened, a blast of immense heat greeting her as she stepped through it. Now, she found herself at the start of a darkened, metal passageway. Steam billowed from the fissured pipes along the concrete walls. The heat was stilting. Her silk pyjamas were steadily becoming immersed in sweat. With a deep breath, she then made her way though the barren steel corridors, that twisted and turned beyond her. She paused at the end of a intersecting corridor and then slowly looked over her right shoulder.

There was a lean figure standing in the middle of the passageway, perhaps fifteen feet behind her. The condensation distorted her view of him. But she knew who it was. It was him. She could faintly see his fedora hat on top of his head and his bladed claw hanging limply at his side. A blast of steam soared past his figure and then he slowly faded away. She frowned and then continued onwards. Why was he not showing himself to her? How much longer was it going to be?

_Sccccreecch…_

Katherine jumped and gritted her teeth. He was _toying _with her, trying to draw her out her fear. Make her on edge and it was working. Her pace picked up as she saw a soft orange glow from the far end of the passageway she entered, and soon she arrived the main area of the boiler room. To her left was a small side room. Set outside the room was a long wood bench, with a variety of cutting tools and knives scattered on top. Each item was stained in blood. To her right were several large black furnaces, bright fires raging inside them. On the other side of the boiler room was a steep metal staircase that led to an array of metal catwalks above. She took a few steps into the room and growled irritably, "Where are you? Show yourself!"

_Sccccreecch…_

Her head jerked upwards to the top of the stairs. There he was, it had been four long years since she had seen him. Far too long. His burns were still as ghastly as ever. There was a small repetitive tapping sound as he gently tapped the steel blades of the claw along the metal railing as he slowly descended the stairs. Every now and then he trailed the blades along the metal, making that piercing screeching sound that made her cringe in irritation. His fedora hat was titled down a little, but she could see his malicious smirk on his burnt blistered face.

"Well" he leered, "If it isn't _Maggie_!"

She shook her head, then snapped. "That's not my name. And _you_ know it".

"Oh" he whispered hoarsely in between his dark chuckling, "My little princess has finally _accepted _who she really is! "

"Yes" she watched as he came off the last step and lifted his head to smile at her. Showing his rotten, jagged teeth. He eyed her quietly and with curiosity as she unhooked the bag from her shoulder and unzipped it. Then she rose to her feet and slipped her right hand into the pocket of her nightgown and unfolded to pieces of paper. She held the first one out to him. He could tell it was her adoption decree.

He watched as she strolled over to one of the furnaces with the adoption decree in her hand, "I'm Katherine Krueger" she opened the rusty door to the furnace and threw the paper inside. The flames reflected in her eyes as she watched the paper being turned to ash. "I'm not Maggie Burroughs. I never was. I've always been Katherine Krueger I just forgot until I was shown my memories"

She spun away from the furnace and crossed the room to her backpack, while keeping an eye on him as he continued to follow her every move. "You made her visit me and showed me my memories, didn't you? You had this all planned, so I would come back here?"

He flashed her a exultant grin and cackled madly, "Of course Katherine, you needed to get your memories back. You're a Krueger. Simple at that. You belong here with your daddy"

She grasped the other paper in her hands and then showed it to him, it was the drawing she drew in the Orphanage. "I remember drawing this. It was the last picture I ever drew of me, you and mom. It was a week or two before they came for me. Martin and Sarah"

Freddy snarled softly at the mention of their names.

"I know you killed Martin" she declared.

"He was never your daddy" he tapped his chest with a single blade, "I AM!"

His eyes roamed over her body slowly and then with a discreet flick of his claw her attire had changed. She frowned as she saw him smile smugly, "_Much better_"

Her jaw dropped as she lowered her gaze to her body. She was now dressed in her pink dress from when she was a child, with white knee length socks, black shoes and her long brown hair was tied into two pigtails, bound together with those candy red ribbons. She raised her right hand to trail over her right pigtail and then she turned towards the bench, placing the picture on top. "I remember painting you loads of pictures of our little family. You loved me painting pictures of myself. You would take them and keep them. You would pin them on the fridge or on the mantelpiece in the living room. Did you keep some of them in your room in the basement?"

He leisurely tapped his index blade against his black trousers and grinned at her. She took that as a 'yes'.

She saw him leering down at the backpack at her feet and then back to her. He looked suspicious. "What's in the bag, hmm? You got another pipe bomb in there, princess?"

Katherine frowned in disappointment and shook her head, "No, I'm not here to fight with you daddy"

Freddy sniggered, "It's been _so_ long since you've said daddy and actually _meant_ it. You have certainly changed, haven't ya?"

"Yes" she lifted up the fedora hat and his bladed claw from the backpack. Holding them in both her hands she took a step forward and held them out to him, "I brought them back for you daddy"

He proudly brandished his claw, wiggling the blades and then used his left hand to tip up his hat, "As you can see Kat, I already have them!"

Sighing she turned around and left the items on the bench, and then turned back to face him. Her face held an apologetic look as she began, "I'm sorry daddy"

He glared at her.

"I meant what I said" she persisted, "That night when they took me from you, I meant every single word! I never meant to tell on you!""

Freddy sneered and stalked over to her, and stopped four feet from her. His eyes glazed with rising anger and he pointed at her with a blade. "But you did, didn't ya? You treacherous little brat!"

"Why don't you believe me?!" she retorted, "I meant it! Did you NOT realise how young I was? I was five years old, for fuck's sake! Did you not understand how traumatic it was for me? How horrible it was for a little five year old girl to witness her father killing her mother in front of her? I was so scared, I didn't know what to do!"

He sneered at her, as his blades scrapped against each other. Yet he continued to listen as she sustained. "You kept saying it was our secret. But you always told me not to lie, didn't you? I was so torn, so confused! I didn't know that I was going to be taken away from you!" she whimpered and then took a deep breath. "I didn't want to lose you, you were my everything! I loved you so much daddy, you were my hero when I was a little girl! But when you strangled mom, you _frightened_ me!"

She heard him mumble incoherently to himself and looked up to see him shaking his head, as though he was talking to himself. Was there still some part of his humanity left? Was it still intact? Maybe she could get through to him, just maybe he could actually forgive her. "I shouldn't have told on you, I know that now. But you still shouldn't have killed mom! You should have given her a chance!"

"Are you fucking serious?" his head shot up and he snarled at her with venom at her suggestion, "That whore would have ran off to the police the first opportunity she got!"

"She wasn't a whore!" she stormed towards him. Anger rising within her and her fists clenched at her side. "She was my mother!"

She never felt his left hand connect to her face until she felt her skin stinging from the impact. Her face now was twisted to the left, her brown eyes were set on the bench to her left. There was a small sneer of contempt on her face at being struck like this. But she had to remember, she wasn't here to fight him. Taking a deep breath she took a few steps back from him as he withdrew his blades back. Poised and ready to strike if she dared try anything. Her fingers brushed over her lips as she brushed away her blood, "As I said daddy, I didn't come here to fight"

He approached her and roughly grabbed the back of her neck, his burnt fingers digging into her skin as he jerked her towards him and smirked knowingly. "I know why you're here, we both do. I'm just waiting for you to say those little words!"

He flung her back, but she managed to steady herself on her feet and in turn glared at him with annoyance. "I know that you probably wont forgive me, but I'm asking you to consider it. I know it's hard for you after what I done to you. It was my own foolish fault for what they did to you. The moment I told my teacher at school, I set in motion a series of events that shaped the future of this town. It paved the way for your death and I'm sorry for that!"

He tapped his blades against his trousers.

"You may not believe this" she swallowed thickly, "But I still love you. I thought that I didn't, but a part of me still does"

A smirk crossed his face as he took a step toward her, "Oh, really? After all I've done, for trying to kill you, princess?"

"You were angry" she replied, "I understand that now"

He gave an insane laugh, "You really have changed!"

She ignored his maniacal laughter. "I know why you shared your memories with me"

"Oh" he growled viciously, "You mean my games with the piglets? They were fun, weren't they? Your old man is a very creative guy, isn't he?"

"You mean, you're twisted and sadistic" she sneered at him in disgust. "You're now a monster!"

"A monster that you supposedly still _love_ and _care_ for" he laughed raucously, "Doesn't that make you a little _fucked _up in the head, sweetheart?"

Her head shook in disagreement, "I know there is still a good side to you"

"That part of me is long dead, Katherine" he brusquely replied, "It died the night you were taken away from me. That is what drove me over the edge, made me go crazy! Losing you was the worst thing that ever happened to me!"

Her lips parted slightly and she nodded in agreement. He was right, she couldn't deny it.

"Now…" he hissed and then grinned impishly at her. "As much as I'd love to chat all night, I think we should get down to business. Don't you, honey?"

"Yes"

"Well go on"

She took a deep breath. This was it. "I know that I was to blame for the deaths of those children and teenagers. Not just you. It was because I told on you that everything that has happened in this town has occurred. I can still hear their screams, see what you did to them all. All the twisted and merciless ways you killed them. I saw them all die. Because you shared your memories with me"

"You had to be shown the them sweetie, you played a part in their deaths. Just like you rightly said" he said with a lecherous grin. "You are right to feel guilty, to feel ashamed!"

She brushed away a few tears from her face, nodding solemnly. "I miss her"

He saw her turn away and walk over to the picture on the bench, her right hand training over the drawing of Loretta. "I miss her so much" her body spun around to face him, "I want you to kill me. So, I can be with her"

His charred lips pulled back into a scandalous grin and he closed the gap on her. Her body froze and she braced herself for the inevitable. The fingers on his left hand curled around her neck. "It'll be my" he hissed gutturally and she felt the four blades plunge into her stomach, "_pleasure"_

A small scream tore from her throat at the pain and her hands whipped up to grasped his shoulders. Blood seeped from her stab wounds as he slowly withdrew them from her severed flesh, and he gave her a cunning grin. His lips then pressed against her left ear. "Say hello to your mother for me"

He pressed his two burnt fingers at the side of her neck, feeing the blood pulsating in her veins begin to slow in intensity. Pulling his head back slightly he saw her eyes flutter violently and with her last ounce of strength she leaned forward to gently kiss his left charred cheek, "I love you daddy"

For the slightest moment a small grin played at his lips and then he fully withdrew his talons from her body. Her body sagged against him and he crouched to lay her on the floor and with one last shuddering breath, the bleak blackness of death consumed her. The last five words she thought she heard was…

"_I love you too Katherine"_

**x x x**

The first thing she heard was whispering. Hushed voices. Her eyes flickered opened and she was immediately blinded by a white dazzling light. It literally surrounded her. With a moan she pushed herself to a sitting position and saw that everywhere was white. As far as her eyes could see. Stumbling to her knees she looked down at her stomach and saw the four stab wounds on her stomach. Well, she was dead alright, so was this heaven?

She spun around and then realised that there were figures in the distance, they shimmered in and out of existence. Her eyes furrowed as she studied the figures as he approached them, none of them look familiar. Just where was she? She had to be here somewhere. She mingled amongst them, eyes scouring them and then she saw her. That short brown bobbed hair, and the same flowered dress she wore the day she died.

"Mom?"

The woman turned to face her, but before Katherine could rush towards her she heard a tearing sound and the ground below her gave way, and she began to fall into a bottomless pit of darkness.

She screamed and screamed…

Her body crashed against hard metal, a groan of pain coming from her as she tried to process what was happening. How could she feel pain if she was dead? Her eyes blinked furiously as she stared at a metal floor. What the hell?

She shrieked as a rough hand pulled her onto her back and she gawked in horror as the burnt visage of her father came into focus. "Welcome back!" he leered.

Her body came to life and she scrambled back from him on her hands and knees, "What the fuck?" her eyes darted down to her pink dress, the blood on her dress was still wet. "How am I back here?"

Freddy chuckled at her and crouched down to her eye level, "Do you really think I would allow you to be reunited with HER? With that fucking bitch? You're mine, Katherine!"

"So, I'm still dead and I'm stuck with you? In the dream world?" she couldn't believe this. It couldn't be true!

His clawed glove gripped her shoulder and he shoved her to her feet, then slammed her into the nearest wall. "Just say I tend to get a little lonely around here" he waved at the boiler room with his burnt hand, "It would be nice to have some company and why not _my_ precious little princess?"

"No!" she shook her head in defiance, "I want to be with mom!"

He wagged his index blade at her, and admonished. "No, you don't. I may not have had you for long when were both alive. But now that we're BOTH dead" he smiled wickedly and used his blade to tuck a strand of her hair behind her left ear, "you're staying with me for _eternity_, baby girl. And you're going to watch!"

"W-watch?" she shivered, "Watch what?"

"While I do my special work" he threw his head back and laughed menacingly, "I'm going to destroy this little town all over again! And you're going to witness every death"

She shook her head wildly.

He smirked at her and continued, "There is nothing you can do about it, princess. Perhaps in time you could become daddy's little helper"

Her body trembled as he grasped her face with both his claw and burnt hand, then planted a harsh kiss on her forehead and cackled madly.

"Welcome home Katherine!"

x x x

The end..?

**Author's Note**: I have to say I quite enjoyed writing this story. I may write a sequel in the future, you never know! Please review and let me know what you thought of this story!

Also, I will hopefully start the sequel of I Won't Tell in the next day or so. Though it may not be posted until 9th/10th July - keep an eye on my page for any updates.


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